Syracuse had its chances in this game, but let victory slip from its grasp as it lost in overtime to North Carolina 88-79. The Orange are now 0-6 lifetime from the Dean Smith Center.
SU came into the matchup losers of two straight. First, a tough loss at Notre Dame, then an absolute beatdown at the hands of #4 Duke. Its NCAA Tournament hopes were all but lost, but still had a chance to secure an all elusive Quad-One victory. Unfortunately for Syracuse, it wasn’t meant to be.
“It was an unbelievable effort and they (the Tar Heels) had to make a long three to take the game at the end,” said Coach Boeheim. “We fought hard, but we’ve won three or four close games and we’ve lost three or four close games.”
The Orange came out the gates flying, jumping to a 15-6 lead in the opening 3:30 minutes, and the man leading the team was Cole Swider. The Villanova transfer had his best game in an SU uniform with a career high 36 points on 67% shooting.
LISTEN: Our reporter @k__loughran joined the show and talked about how Cole Swider was able to shoot as well as he did tonight. pic.twitter.com/gqhOxlocHz
— WAER Sports Talk (@WAERSportsTalk) March 1, 2022
UNC eventually woke up, and took their first lead of the game with a little over five minutes remaining in the first half. The Tar Heels then went on mini-run towards the end, and took a 41-36 lead at the break.
As the second half began, the two foes went blow-for-blow as there were a total of 11 lead changes and ten ties for the night. With 15 seconds remaining, the Orange had an inbound 71-70 leading 71-70, but turned the ball over. Following a North Carolina timeout, Caleb Love appeared to hit the dagger three with just eight ticks left, but SU raced down the other end of the court, and Joe Girard hit the game tying basket.
But in overtime Syracuse just didn’t quite have it. UNC pounced on SU, scoring the first eight points of the extra frame. For reference, the Orange scored just six points in OT. It also didn’t help that Cole Swider fouled out with 2:14 to play when the Orange were down by six. From there, the game was a formality.
This truly felt like Syracuse’s last chance to make any noise before the ACC Tournament. The Orange had gone winless in their first seven attempts in Quad-One play. Now, they’re 0-8. At this point, SU needs to win the ACC to make the big dance for the fourth straight season - excluding 2020 due to the tournament not taking place.
Syracuse returns home for its regular season finale against Miami (FL) on Saturday at 1:00. GZA Countdown to Tipoff begins our coverage at 12:30. There’s also a men’s lacrosse game at 4:30 on Wednesday as #11 Army visits #14 SU. GZA Countdown to Faceoff starts at 4:00.