Syracuse’s three-point shooting woes cost them against North Carolina and fall to 15-13

In a game that was tied 44-44 with 12 minutes remaining, Syracuse could not keep up with North Carolina's scoring as the Orange fell to the 16th-ranked Tar Heels 77-64 at the JMA Wireless Dome Saturday afternoon. The story after the game, however, surrounded Syracuse's leading-scorer Donnie Freeman. The projected second round NBA draft pick struggled to get going all afternoon, finishing 3-8 FG for nine points. What made matters worse was Freeman was assessed his 2nd technical foul of the game with just under two minutes remaining and was ejected from the contest. 

Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry was asked after the game what he believed was negatively impacting his star forward after being noticeably frustrated throughout the day.

"It was a physical game," said Coach Autry. "I thought that had something to do with the frustration. This was an important game for us, so emotions were high, and we were competing."

In what was Syracuse's fourth ranked opponent in their last six contests, the Orange shot 42% from the field, which was right below their 47% season shooting average. One of the biggest reasons Syracuse could not keep up with North Carolina down the stretch, however, was because of their three-point shooting. The Orange finished 3-17 (18%) from beyond the arc, which was the fewest 3-point makes for Syracuse this season. 

Coach Autry said he thought the struggles from the majority of his starters made it that much tougher for his squad to knock down the long ball. 

"If Donnie Freeman struggles, and Nate George and Nate Kingz and those guys struggle, it's going to make it tough for us to make threes," said Coach Autry. "We rely on those guys to make threes, and we just didn't shoot the ball well from three. We had some open looks, more the most part, but we didn't make them. And I thought that was the difference."

In their 37-point loss against Duke last Monday, Syracuse scored just 24 points in the first half which tied for the fewest points in the first half this year. Today, the Orange scored 28 points in the first half, which was headlined by Freeman being scoreless at the half with only two shot attempts. 

Syracuse's one bright spot for offense was preseason All-ACC second team senior guard J.J. Starling, who led the Orange with a season-high 22 points on 10-19 shooting. Starling was asked about his offensive outburst with the rest of his team having trouble getting the ball to go through the hoop.

"I'm not worried about the points I had," said Starling. "At the end of the day, we lost, and that's all that matters. As a team, we were getting in the lane and we missed a couple easy ones. At the end of the day, we missed shots we normally make."

Syracuse sharpshooting guard Nate Kingz picked up his fourth foul early in the second half, which resulted in Kingz only playing 20 total minutes and finishing with just four points. Kingz had converted a three-pointer in 16 straight games, but with forward Tyler Betsey being the only player who hit a triple for the Orange (3-5 3FG), that streak was broken.  

Kingz, who was averaging 17 PPG over the last six games going into today's content, was asked where the team is mentally after back-to-back losses and three games remaining in the regular season before conference tournament play. 

"I don't really have an answer for that," said Kingz. "I don't know where we're at mentally, but we have to try to find the positives in things. We want to finish out the season strong and try to make a push to the tournament, and continue to just stay positive."

Syracuse forward William Kyle III, who had the lowest plus-minus out of anyone on the team with a –16, finished with four points and eight rebounds. Kyle, who has been a catalyst in Syracuse's rim protection all year, struggled defending North Carolina's starting center Henri Veesaar, who led the Tar Heels with 19 points after being a true game-time decision because of a lower body injury that has caused Veesaar to miss their last two outings. 

Kyle was asked about Veesaar's impact on today's game, especially with North Carolina's leading scorer and star freshman Caleb Wilson being out of this afternoon's matchup as he still continues to recover from a wrist fracture.

"He's an elite player and elite post player," said Kyle. "He adds another level to the game, and when he was out, it was obvious when they played NC State. And we knew we weren't going to see that same team coming in, Coach let us know that. So, definitely a difference maker." 

With today's loss, Syracuse is very much on the outside looking in for making the NCAA Tournament. The last time the Orange made the Big Dance was 2021, and the only way that streak will end is if Syracuse makes a deep run in the ACC Tournament in Charlotte in two weeks, with winning the tourney entirely and getting an automatic bid as the only option.

Syracuse now has a week off before traveling to Winston-Salem, NC, for their only matchup of the season against ACC-phenom guard Juke Harris (21.3 PPG) and the 14–12 Wake Forest Demon Deacons (5–8 ACC) next Saturday, February 28. The last time Syracuse played Wake Forest, the Deacons came into the JMA Wireless Dome on New Years Eve of 2024 and defeated the Orange 81–71. Tip-off for that game next Saturday is set for 5:45 p.m. on the CW Network.