Good, Bad and Ugly From UNC's Win Over Orange

North Carolina continues the hot streak and extends the win streak to four games. The Tar Heels picked up an 87-77 win over Syracuse. March is approaching, and UNC is getting hot at the right time.

The Tar Heels could have put themselves in a tough predicament if UNC looked ahead toward the end of the week. Duke is sitting in front of the Tar Heels this Saturday, but that did not sway UNC. The Tar Heels took care of business against the Orange; now they can put all their focus ahead against the Blue Devils.

Good: First 30 minutes

The Tar Heels were playing a near-perfect game in the first 30 minutes. Caleb Wilson continued his impressive season and looked as comfortable as he has all season. The Tar Heels shot well from three, as they finished the first half shooting just under 50%.

Henri Veesaar continues to dominate for the Tar Heels. He has been exceptional for UNC this season, and that continued once again against the Orange. Veesaar was excellent down low, finishing with 17 points, 11 rebounds, two steals and a block.

UNC had a 46-32 lead going into halftime, and everything was pointing toward a comfortable win for the Tar Heels. They went nuclear to start the second half and extended the lead to as much as 32 points.

Bad: Davis mindset late game

Wilson sank a free throw with six minutes left in the game to put UNC up by 27 points. Davis pulled his star player shortly after, and then everything went downhill. As a coach, you would hope to trust your whole team to hold a near 30-point lead with six minutes remaining.

That was not the case for the Tar Heels last night. They almost lost the lead completely. It took Davis three whole minutes of the Orange coming back before he subbed Wilson back into the game.

He has to recognize what is happening before it ultimately happens and prevent the opposing team from even getting close to winning the game. Davis must be better prepared against the Blue Devils, or the Tar Heels’ struggles against their archrival may continue.

Ugly: Last 10 minutes

The Tar Heels were up by 31 points with seven minutes left to play. In those final minutes, UNC made one basket and nine free throws. The Tar Heels turned the ball over five times and missed five free throws.

It was a disastrous end of the game for the Tar Heels, as the Orange cut the lead to six with 42 seconds left. Thankfully, the Orange ran out of time, or it could have been a very uncomfortable postgame for Davis and company.

The Tar Heels must stay focused for the full 40 minutes if they want to keep their win streak alive.

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