Withers and Jackson shine as UNC outlasts SU in tight finish
Withers, Jackson shine as UNC outlasts SU in tight finish
Despite a strong second-half surge led by J.J. Starling, the Tar Heels squeak out an 88-82 win over the Orange.
Following a late comeback attempt by the Cuse, Coach Hubert Davis and the Tar Heels found themselves in another close game this season. This time they were victorious, defeating the Orange 88-82.
Adrian Autry and Davis took over their programs after the departures of two legendary collegiate coaches, Roy Williams and Jim Boeheim. Together, they have 1,986 career wins.
On Feb. 13, 2024, Syracuse Head Coach Adrian Autry secured his first top-10 victory in his inaugural season by defeating Davis and the North Carolina Tar Heels. Saturday marked their third matchup as head coaches and the 24th overall meeting between these teams.
The Orange faced a different UNC team today that is missing their dominant inside presence for which they are known under coach Williams. This marks their first season in the post-Armando Bacot era, following the big man’s significant role in Carolina’s success over the past few seasons. This is a major reason the Heels were the 2022 NCAA National Championship runners-up.
The good news for the Heels this past off-season was the return of R.J. Davis, the previous ACC Player of the Year, for his fifth season. During this time, he is averaging 17.4 points per game.
This year, both Carolina and Syracuse have disappointed their fans. Carolina’s record against quad one teams is currently 1-7, and the Orange have the fourth-worst conference record in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Syracuse’s game plan in this matchup was clear; they felt their frontcourt had a mismatch against the Heels, with Eddie Lampkin Jr. leading the way. The key difference for Carolina in this game was starting Jae’Lyn Withers at the four position. Carolina announced in the post-game press conference that Withers was questionable for today after getting poked in the eye during practice yesterday. Despite dealing with an injured eye, Withers had his best game as a Tar Heel, scoring 19 points, just one short of his Louisville career-high of 20 points.
“I thought he brought great positive energy to all things on the floor, just to the impactful plays,” coach Davis said. “He has tremendous size and athleticism. I thought he consistently made winning place tonight on both ends of the floor.”
North Carolina dominated the first Half as the Orange never saw a lead in this game.
Both teams pushed the pace in the first five minutes, but combined for a whopping 5-18 to start the game.
Coming off the bench, projected first-round NBA draft pick Ian Jackson lit up the floor, shooting 4-6 from three this half and showcasing his athletic ability, giving Syracuse headaches on the defensive end. Jackson is also very close friends with Syracuse guard Elijah Moore, as the two played high school basketball together at Cardinal Hayes and competed in AAU basketball together in New York.
UNC’s Jalen Washington hit his second three of the season, putting his team up 13-8 before the second media timeout. After the timeout with 11 minutes left, SU executed a great out-of-bounds play, leading to a wide-open three by Chris Bell. Coach Autry opted for a zone defense, allowing UNC to capitalize by placing Withers in the middle of the zone with another player in the low post, forcing Lampkin to choose who to guard.
This helped Carolina move the ball around, leading to open threes, shooting 7-15 from beyond the arc in the first half. Coming into the game, Carolina was shooting around 32% from three on the season.
The bigger story for Orange was that J.J. Starling, who was called for two fouls before the second media timeout, had to sit the whole half and only had two points. JJ Taylor would fill in perfectly, scoring eight points behind Lampkin’s nine to keep the game from getting out of hand. After a deadly 15-4 run for UNC late in the half, the Orange found themselves down 42-34 going into halftime.
Starling’s impact was evident in the opening minutes of the second half when he made a strong drive to the basket, energizing his team as SU hit their first four shots of the half. During a two-minute scoring drought for UNC, who made just one of their last seven field goals, SU embarked on an 8-0 run, converting 6 of their previous seven attempts to tie the game at 60. The SU fan base was now on their feet and fully engaged in this game.
Whenever it seemed the Orange could take their first lead, UNC always had an answer. Ian Jackson made his mark on the game again, hitting another corner three to give UNC a three-point lead. After being tied at 62, UNC went on an 11-2 run, with Jalen Whiters playing a pivotal role by scoring 8-0 on his own during that span.
“It’s just a mindset, I mean, everybody’s telling me to shoot. Just the coaching staff instilling confidence, the players instilling confidence, and being aggressive, letting go whenever I get open one. It carried over to the game,” Whiters said in the hallway postgame.
With less than seven minutes to go, Syracuse’s three-minute scoring drought proves detrimental as UNC hits six of their last eight shots, increasing their lead to 78-68 with just under four minutes remaining. Suddenly, SU’s choice to start pressing with two minutes left shifts the momentum of the game. UNC’s reckless ball handling and a crucial turnover by Whiters were seized by J.J. Starling, who converted a challenging and-one shot under the basket, reducing the deficit to just five points with less than two minutes remaining.
Starling scored 20 of his 22 points during the second half.
Down two with less than 40 seconds left, SU decided to stop its successful full-court pressure and play a half-court man-to-man defense. This proved costly, as Elliott Cadeau scored an easy drive-in layup to give UNC a four-point lead with 25 seconds left.
“I wasn’t happy with them coming back, because that’s something that we struggle with all season, is getting a lead, whether it’s in the first or second half, and then letting the team come back,” coach Davis said. “But I was really happy with the response of our group. Being on the road, coming into a two-one possession game, and being able to execute, get stops, and extend the lead was big time for our group. I was proud.”
Syracuse ended the game by making only one of their last seven shots, and their comeback efforts fell short.
“I just thought we had a good flow of getting the shots that we wanted, we just didn’t get the stops,” Autry said. “I’ll figure out what I need to do better, our coaching stuff needs to do better, what everyone needs to do better, put the work in, and prepare to play out in Pittsburgh.”