Over the years, Syracuse has struggled against North Carolina. The bad times continued on Tuesday night with a 93-85 loss to the Tar Heels. Honestly, the game was a lot closer than recent matchups with UNC have been. In the past five years, a matchup with Roy Williams’ team has resulted in a loss for Syracuse.
Why is that?
After all, Syracuse did upset #1 Duke on the road earlier this year. A month and a half later, SU lost its eighth straight game to North Carolina.
FINAL: UNC 93, #Syracuse 85
Tar Heels dominated on the glass (46-25) and at the line (34-37 to 13-23) and still had to fight.
The Orange brought it offensively, but it wasn’t enough. Carolina’s maybe the hottest team in the country for the reason.
— Orange Fizz (@OrangeFizz) February 27, 2019
The last time Syracuse beat North Carolina was January 11th, 2014. On paper, it makes sense. The 2-3 zone doesn’t match up well with UNC’s high-powered offense. Carolina’s movement neutralizes what Syracuse has to do to be successful defensively.
Strangely enough, Jim Boeheim was 2-1 against Williams when he was at Kansas. Boeheim is just 2-7 against Williams at UNC.
Take the Final Four game from a few years ago: that never felt like a good matchup for Syracuse. That was also the case in the second round of the ACC Tournament last year. Sure, it’s easy to sit here and say that now, but it’s true. North Carolina always rebounds, and they did it again on Tuesday.
Sometimes you just don’t match up well with a team and that certainly seems to be the case for Syracuse with North Carolina. Before the game, Williams explained how difficult it is to prepare for the 2-3 zone. Really? He must know something because Carolina scored 93 points on Tuesday.
UNC returns to the Carrier Dome next year, so maybe the streak ends there. I wouldn’t count on it.
**What Syracuse has done since it last beat North Carolina: Two wins over UVA, Three wins over Duke**
