Syracuse Grinds Out Impressive Win Over North Carolina

Kadary Richmond and Jesse Edwards gave Syracuse big minutes off of the bench and Buddy Boeheim was hot from the outside as Syracuse topped North Carolina 72-70 inside the Dome on Monday. With the win, the Orange improved to 14-8 (8-7) on the season and 12-1 at home. Syracuse will close out the regular season against Clemson on Wednesday, also in the Dome.

Buddy Boeheim scored a game high 26 points and made six three pointers. Marek Dolezaj did a little bit of everything with eight points, five assists, five rebounds, three steals and three blocks. Quincy Guerrier had a gutsy performance as he played through a leg injury to finish with 18 points and six rebounds. Edwards had six points, eight rebounds and four steals in 24 minutes. Richmond finished with six points, a career high 10 assists and four steals. The 10 assists were the most by a Syracuse freshman in regulation since Jonny Flynn had 10 against Rhode Island in 2007.

Syracuse trailed by as many as nine in the first few minutes, but battled back to take a six point lead into halftime after closing the half on a 14-2 run. Syracuse pushed its advantage to as many as 14 in the second half, and held on despite losing Edwards, who fouled out, and Richmond to injury. Richmond limped off the floor in the final minutes and did not return.

North Carolina made Syracuse sweat down the stretch, fueled by two four point possessions. In each, the Tar Heels made the first free throw, missed the second, got an offensive rebound and hit a three pointer. Missed free throws and turnovers by Syracuse allowed the lead to dwindle to just one possession with 11 seconds left.

Jim Boeheim called for Girard to foul before a potentially tying three pointer could be attempted, and Caleb Love missed both free throws. Joe Girard would hit one of two at the other end to seal the deal.

Girard and Alan Griffin both struggled in this one. Griffin was just 1-10 from the floor including 0-5 from three point range. Girard played just 10 minutes but was 1-3 shooting, missed two free throws and committed two turnovers.

North Carolina dominated Syracuse inside once again, outrebounding the Orange 53-33 and outscored the Orange 25-10 in second chance points. Syracuse offset that by forcing 20 turnovers and scoring 28 points off of them. The Tar Heels also made just four of 20 (20%) three point attempts. That includes an 0-7 effort from North Carolina's best outside shooter Kerwin Walton.

Armando Bacot led North Carolina with 18 points and 15 rebounds.