UNC Basketball vs. Syracuse: Game preview, info, preview and more

Can the UNC Basketball team make it three-straight wins in conference play? They return to the court on Tuesday to take on Syracuse.

The UNC Basketball team returns to the court on Tuesday night for just their second Atlantic Coast Conference home game of the season. After their second postponement of the year with Clemson battling COVID-19 issues, the Tar Heels will now host a Syracuse team that is 7-2 overall and 1-1 in conference play.

The Orange had a lengthy two-week break in between games from December 19th to January 6th due to COVID-19 issues but are back on the court and are coming off a win over Georgetown a few days ago. As for the Tar Heels, they have now won two-straight in conference play after holding on against Miami on the road.

But even with that two-game win streak, UNC has still struggled.

This is a poor shooting team that has really struggled to score from the field especially at the guard position with their freshman duo. While the Tar Heels bigs have played well to start, especially on the class, UNC needs to clean it up and shoot better if they want to make a run this season.

Tuesday night provides another opportunity for that and they are going to need that against a Syracuse team that is averaging 80 points a game while giving up 67.4. The Tar Heels are averaging 72.3 points a game but most of their production is coming from the bigs.

The Orange are led by sophomore forward Quincy Guerrier who is averaging 15.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. Guerrier will be a big challenge for UNC in the post as it will be all hands on deck in stopping him.

UNC will also face that tough ‘Cuse zone defense that could give them fits. There will be open shots available but with the poor shooting, can we count on the Tar Heels to knock shots down and execute? That will be the biggest question going into this game.

Key to Victory for UNC

How UNC handles this zone in terms of shooting will be crucial. As I mentioned before, the Tar Heels are going to get open looks against this ‘Cuse zone defense but it’s up to them to make those shots.

They can still work it inside to their bigs but this game really could come down to Andrew Platek, Caleb Love, Leaky Black and R.J. Davis in terms of scoring. If those guys aren’t shooting well in this one, the Tar Heels are going to struggle. Plain and simple.

Something to Watch

The freshman guards. Both Love and Davis need to play better and that’s really no secret as they have struggled early on in their UNC careers.

Love is shooting just 10 percent from the three-point line and this is a major area of concern for the former five-star recruit. He’s shown his ability to be a scorer but hasn’t had that big breakout game just yet. That needs to happen on Tuesday night.

As for Davis, he started off the season hot and was the better of the duo. But since then, he’s also struggled to score the ball and it’s hurt the Tar Heels.

Let’s see if they can both get on track here.

Projected starting lineup

G — R.J. Davis

G — Andrew Platek

G/F — Leaky Black

F/C — Day’Ron Sharpe

F/C — Armando Bacot

What you need to know

WHAT? Syracuse Orange (7-2, 1-1 ACC) AT North Carolina Tar Heels (7-4, 2-2 ACC)
WHEN? Wednesday, January 13 @ 9:00 p.m. EST
WHERE? Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
TV? ACC Network
RADIO? Tar Heels Sports Network
LINE? UNC -4
LAST MEETING? Syracuse beat UNC 81-53 in the ACC Tournament on March 11th.
ALL-TIME SERIES? UNC leads 13-5
PREDICTION? Syracuse 76, UNC 68

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