UNC Basketball: Tar Heels fall to Orange in disappointing final game
UNC basketball falls to Syracuse in ACC Tournament second round, ending tumultuous 2019-20 season
Elijah Hughes scored a game-high 27 points, and Buddy Boeheim added 17, as Syracuse beat North Carolina 81-53 in the ACC Tournament second round at Greensboro Coliseum on Wednesday night.
Junior forward Bourama Sidibe had a 12-point, 13-rebound double-double, while Marek Dolezaj scored 13 points on a 6-for-11 shooting performance. The Orange hit 28-of-60 shots on the night, and 7-of-21 from three-point range. They racked up 15 assists on 28 made buckets, and only lost the rebounding battle by four. They also came away with 11 steals, while the Tar Heels didn’t have a single theft on the game.
Syracuse improves to 18-14 with the victory, and advances to the third round of the conference tournament. That is, if any additional games are played this week — or this season — amid widespread concern over the coronavirus pandemic.
North Carolina was led in its final game of the season by Garrison Brooks, who scored 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the floor. Sophomore guard Leaky Black scored 14 points, and was the only other Tar Heel in double-figures.
Cole Anthony scored just five point on 2-of-10 shooting from the floor, and 1-of-6 from beyond the arc in what will almost definitely be his final collegiate game. Senior grad transfers Christian Keeling and Justin Pierce combined for just two points in 26 minutes of play in their final games. Freshman center Armando Bacot had eight points and seven rebounds, and announced after the game that he intends to be back at North Carolina next season.
North Carolina hit just over 33 percent of its shots for the game, and 12.5 percent (2-of-16) from long-range. They committed 18 turnovers to Syracuse’s eight, and finished the game with just nine assists, one block and zero steals as a team.
The Tar Heels’ miserable 2019-20 campaign finally comes to an end, though it may turn out to be the best possible season to have their worst record in nearly two decades. It’s my humble opinion that conference tournaments and the NCAA Tournament are likely to get cancelled in the coming days. Either way, this is the last UNC basketball sighting until next season, when the Tar Heels bring in the nation’s No. 3-ranked recruiting class to try to right the ship.
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