Five Takeaways: North Carolina 88 Syracuse 79 (OT)
Syracuse fell 88-79 in overtime at North Carolina. Here are five takeaways from the loss.
1. Effort
We all know the flaws of this team. They have been discussed at length all season. But I want to start with a positive this team has had all year. Their effort. All year this team has played as hard as it can. Monday night, with essentially nothing to play for with the NCAA Tournament off the table barring an ACC Tournament Title, combined with playing a team that is fighting for its NCAA Tournament life on their senior night, there was every reason for this to have been a repeat of the Duke game. Except, it was not. The effort that the players gave should be commended. No that does not mean accepting a .500 type season as the new bar for Syracuse basketball. No that does not mean a loss is suddenly OK. It is simply acknowledging that all season, this team has fought and given everything they had. I do think that speaks to the culture of the program, but that's a separate discussion. I think the players deserve support for senior night against Miami, where they will undoubtedly continue to give that effort.
2. End of Regulation
Now to the bad stuff. Once again late game execution comes back to bite Syracuse. Joe Girard's inbounds pass was too low and right at the feet of Buddy Boeheim. It bounced off Buddy's foot and out of bounds. Could not even get a shot off. That led to a Caleb Love three that gave North Carolina a brief two point lead before Girard tied it to send it to overtime. The Love three was not a terrible shot to give up considering his shooting struggles all night. Perhaps Syracuse could have at least gotten a hand up instead of giving the wide open look, but it was a few steps behind the three point line. When you're a poor defensive team, with a clear interior weakness, sometimes you have to live with allowing that shot as opposed to a layup. That said, I am surprised Girard did not pull up for three at the end of regulation. Usually on the road when trying to pull off the upset, you go for the win because extending the game gives the better team more time to get its act together. Hindsight is 20/20, but I thought as Girard was running up court that he should pull up for three to try to win it. If Syracuse does not extend its winning seasons streak, it can look directly at this, at Wake Forest, Florida State at home, Virginia at home, and lost double digit leads (Colgate, at Georgetown, at Pitt) as to why it happened.
3. Rebounding
Syracuse was dominated on the glass once again and it was a major factor in the outcome. North Carolina won the rebounding battle 44-30 including a 16-5 edge on the offensive glass. That led to an 18-6 advantage in second chance points. Syracuse outshot North Carolina overall (49% to 41%) and from three (40% to 39%), but the rebounding discrepancy led eight more shot attempts for the Tar Heels.
4. Cole Swider
Cole Swider had his best game in a Syracuse uniform. He scored a career high 36 points and seemingly could not miss. He made open shots, contested shots, off balanced shots and shots while being hit on the arm. Swider nearly carried the Orange to an improbable road win. He was electric and actually forced North Carolina to take its best defender (Leaky Black) off of Buddy Boeheim. A tremendous shooting display.
5. Free Throws
The free throw differential was a part of the game that deserves some discussion. North Carolina had 20 free throw attempts compared to just eight for Syracuse. Half of the Orange's free throws came in overtime with the game all but decided. After regulation the difference was 17 to four in favor of North Carolina. This despite the fact that Syracuse had more points in the paint (28 to 26) and took more shots inside the arc. In an overtime game, North Carolina's nine point edge at the charity stripe in regulation was part of the story as to why it even went to an extra session. The nine fouls on North Carolina were the fewest for a power conference team in an overtime game since February 2013.
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