Takeaways following Syracuse's failed comeback in an 87-77 loss at North Carolina

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - After postgame handshakes with his Carolina foes, Syracuse coach Red Autry quickly made his way off the Smith Center court Monday night following his team's 87-77 defeat to the 14th ranked Tar Heels. As he approached the tunnel to the Orange locker room, a spectator to his left leaned over the railing and shouted an obscenity directed specifically at the head coach.

Autry stopped, started to move slightly to his left towards the man, perhaps in his 30s adorned in a Syracuse hat and shirt, but was quickly escorted away and down the tunnel by the Smith Center security guard specifically tasked with escorting and securing the visiting head coach to/from the court during each home game.

There was no need for the incivility on the spectator's part, not cool, and cooler heads made quick work of anything escalating, but it has been that kind of a season for the Orange, encapsulated in this ESPN Monday Nighter for the college hoops community to see.

Autry's job status is the biggest talking point in Orange Nation, and his boss, AD John Wildhack sat directly behind the SU bench Monday taking in the proceedings.

A late first half run made it 46-32 Carolina at the half. The lead ballooned to an unfathomable 32 points with just under 10:00 to play, before the Heels got sloppy with seven second-half turnovers that directly led to 10 'Cuse points, and had to hold on to avoid an embarrassment of epic proportions.

While Melo is also unhappy with the state of the program, his son is still a believer that improvement lies ahead

After Monday's game, as reported by ESPN, Carmelo Anthony (not in attendance) aired his frustration with the direction of the program in a post on the program's official Instagram account.

Syracuse dropped to 13-10, 4-6, currently 11th in the 18 team ACC, and all the momentum of ending a four-game losing streak two days earlier against Notre Dame, quickly evaporated as Tar Heels big men Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar combined for 39 points and 20 rebounds scoring inside and out in a dominating 30 plus minutes of the game.

Besides Donnie Freeman essentially matching Wilson with a game-high 23 points, and a second-half burst from Nait George connecting on some outside shots and finishing with 15 points, Kiyan Anthony continued his first season baptism, struggling on his shooting (3-for-10) but getting to the foul line (4-for-4) finhsing with 10 points.

"We have great practices, sometime four or five great practices in a row," Anthony said when asked why the team's in-game play has been so up and down in the ACC. "Then we gt to the games sometimes, and it just doesn't translate."

Part of it is the ball movement (two assists on 11 made baskets in the first half vs. UNC)," Anthony added. "While we play pretty good defense for the most part, at the end of the day you've got to put the ball in the hole."

Syracuse has still never defeated North Carolina in Chapel Hill

Monday's loss dropped the Orange to 0-8 all-time vs. the Tar Heel at the Smith Center, which opened in 1986. SU has actually won a game in the building, defeating North Carolina A&T in the first round of the 1988 NCAA Tournament as the third seed, before being upset by 11th seed Rhode Island on the same court two days later.

Syracuse has not won at Carolina, or newcomers SMU and Stanford in its ACC history, but owns at least one victory on each of the other 14 ACC homecourts.

Besides never winning in Chapel Hill, SU dropped a game to UNC in Charlotte in 1983, and knocked off the Heels in Greensboro in the second round of the 2020 ACC Tournament. Of course, two of the program's all-time milestone victories came against the Tar Heels in the NCAA Tournament.

in 1975's East regional semifinals in Providence Jim Lee's game-winning shot shocked heavily favorite Carolina and help boost the Orangemen to the school's first Final Four.

At the East regional final at the N.J. Meadowlands in 1987, SU upset what Dean Smith himself labeled a "great" Carolina team, to give Jim Boeheim his first Final Four berth after never being able to win consecutive NCAA games in any tournament in his first 11 seasons as head coach.

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