Orange Fall to Tar Heels in Home Finale

Saturday, February 29

Syracuse, N.Y.

4 PM

Syracuse University

16-13,9-9ACC

North Carolina

12-17,5-13ACC

North Carolina

Syracuse

2/29/2020 6:27:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Buddy Boeheim had 22 points and Bourama Sidibe posted 17 points and 15 rebounds but it was not enough as North Carolina (12-17, 5-13 ACC) won at Syracuse (16-13, 9-9 ACC), 92-79.

Garrison Brooks had 26 points and 14 rebounds and Cole Anthony contributed 25 points for the Tar Heels.

Boeheim paced the Orange with his 10^th 20+ point game of the season. Sidibe recorded his second-consecutive double-double, finishing with season-highs in both points (17) and rebounds (15). Elijah Hughes tallied 19 points while going a perfect seven-for-seven from the charity stripe.

BROOKS AND DONE
After the teams played to a 10-10 score through five and a half minutes of play, Brooks asserted his will on offense, hitting two free throws and finishing in the paint on a pass from Anthony to give UNC a four-point advantage. Through the first 10 minutes of play, Brooks compiled eight points and four rebounds as the Tar Heels built a 19-17 advantage.

UNC UNLOADS
Following a Brooks jumper with 10:51 to play in the half, the Tar Heels erupted for an 16-0 run that included six points from both Anthony and Keeling, allowing North Carolina to extend its lead to 33-17 with 5:16 to play in the opening frame. Over the nearly six-minute run, UNC went 7-for-10 from the field while the Orange committed five turnovers.

BUDDY BRINGS THE HEAT
The UNC scoring spree was finally ended by a mid-range jumper from Boeheim. On the ensuing possession, the sophomore guard spun around a defender and finished at the cup, giving him eight points. The pair of buckets allowed the Orange to commence an 11-0 run of their own, with Boeheim accounting for seven points himself to cut the Tar Heel advantage to 33-28 with 2:37 to play in the half.

Boeheim finished the first half with a team-leading 15 points while Sidibe secured his second-straight double-double with 10 points and 11 boards at the break to cut the deficit to 40-35.

COLE FUELS THE FIRE
The Tar Heels came out firing in the second half, led by Anthony, who tallied nine points in the first seven minutes of the half to help push the UNC advantage to 64-48 with 13 to play in the game. Anthony's points came on a perfect three-for-three stretch from beyond the arc.

Anthony's dominance continued after the media timeout, nailing two more threes to increase his point total to 23 on the game and up the Tar Heel advantage to 74-58 with 8 minutes to play in the contest.

EVEN DOWN THE STRETCH
After a dominant 12 minutes to open the second half, the two teams played nearly even basketball in the final 8:21 of the game with the Tar Heels outscoring the Orange by only three points, 21-18.

Hughes netted seven of his 19 points during this stretch while Garrison Brooks chipped on nine for UNC.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

Bourama Sidibe secured his second-straight double-double, netting 17 points and 15 rebounds.
Elijah Hughes scored his 1,000^th Syracuse point with his first field goal of the second half.
Sidibe recorded his 300^th point of his career and his 200^th rebound of the season. Sidibe also set a new season-high with 15 points and tied his season high 14 rebounds.
Hughes was perfect from the charity stripe, shooting 7-for-7 on the game.
The Orange outscored the Tar Heels on points in the paint, 38-32.

UP NEXT
The Orange head off to Chestnut Hill to take on the Boston College Eagles on Tuesday, March 3 at the Conte Forum. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2 and the Watch ESPN app.