Five Takeaways: Syracuse Upsets North Carolina

Syracuse had perhaps its most impressive win of the season Monday night when it topped North Carolina 72-70. Here are the key takeaways from the win.

1. NO REBOUNDING, NO PROBLEM

Syracuse was outrebounded by 20 against North Carolina. According to Matt Park, teams who were outrebounded by at least 20 were 6-249 this season before the Orange's win. That's a robust 2.4 winning percentage. How did Syracuse do that? They offset a poor rebounding performance by forcing turnovers. Syracuse forced 20 Tar Heels' mistakes, to be exact, and scored 28 points off of them. The Orange defense had 15 steals, blocked nine shots, held North Carolina to 38% shooting overall and 20% from beyond the arc. Obviously making a habit of being outrebounded by such a large margin is not a fruitful endeavor. But Syracuse had a clear plan on how to mitigate the disadvantage inside.

2. QUINCY IS TOUGH AS NAILS

Quincy Guerrier. What can you say about his performance? The numbers look good with 18 points on 8-13 shooting, two made three pointers and six rebounds. But his outing Monday night was so much more than what can be quantified in a box score. Guerrier suffered an injury against Georgia Tech that was bad enough that he could not practice on Sunday. Jim Boeheim admitted after the win over North Carolina that he did not expect Guerrier to be able to suit up. He left the game on multiple occasions after reaggravating the injury, and yet returned each time. It was an impressive performance and Syracuse may need him to repeat in on Wednesday.

3. JESSE PLAYS WELL AGAIN

Jesse Edwards played 24 really solid minutes. He finished with six points, eight rebounds and four steals. Was he perfect? No. But did he make a difference? Absolutely. North Carolina had a much more difficult time inside with him in the game. The rebounding advantage was not as substantial with him in there. To top it off, Edwards forced turnovers and gave the Tar Heels' bigs some resistance. Don't just take my word for it. Take North Carolina's.

"Edwards did a lot better job than Dolezaj of boxing us out and keeping us off the boards," Armando Bacot said after the game.

He would know better than anyone having spent all game battling in there against those guys.

Look, Edwards still needs to get stronger. He has to improve holding on to the ball, grabbing it securely and limiting fouls. That said, he can help this team and has proven capable and giving the Orange a boost when he's in the game.

4. EFFORT, ENERGY, GRIT

This win was as much about mental fortitude and will to win as it was about anything else. Syracuse's weakness is North Carolina's strength. Syracuse had its best interior presence (Edwards) foul out. Guerrier was not nearly at full strength. Kadary Richmond went out of the game with an injury. Alan Griffin could not make a shot. And yet, despite all of that, Syracuse found a way to win. It was not always pretty. There was some drama in the final moments because of Syracuse's mistakes. But for all of the flack this team has taken all season and with all of that against them, this was a very impressive win.

5. NCAA TOURNAMENT HOPES RETURN?

I was one of those who believed Syracuse's NCAA Tournament hopes died Saturday afternoon when the Orange lost at Georgia Tech. Could those hopes be returning, however? The win against North Carolina certainly helps, and Syracuse's resume is still lacking, but there is still a chance. Syracuse was helped by Rutgers being blown out by 7-17 Nebraska and Richmond losing at home to a bad Saint Joseph's team. The path for Syracuse is clear. Beat Clemson on Wednesday, win two games in the ACC Tournament and see how things play out. That still might not be enough, but it at least gives Syracuse a shot.

NET RANKING UPDATE: Syracuse moved up one spot to 55 after the win. NC State moved up three spots to 75, giving Syracuse its first quadrant one win of the season. UNC dropped four spots to 45.