UNC men’s basketball continues its ascent in dominant 103-67 victory against Syracuse

There are those inevitable moments of struggle during the long slog of any college basketball season, those days when the shots won’t fall or the energy will lack or when a team fails to perform to its potential. Then there are the opposite of those days — the kind North Carolina experienced here on Saturday during a 103-67 victory against Syracuse.

How good of an afternoon was it for UNC?

Well, know this: The final minutes included the securing of free biscuits — as is the case any time the Tar Heels score at least 100 points at home — as well as a couple moments for the highlight reels for walk-ons Duwe Farris (who scored on a layup) and Rob Landry (whose 3-pointer gave UNC its final points).

Before those things happened, there was about 38 minutes of sustained Tar Heels’ dominance, too.

Three takeways from one of UNC’s most complete performances of the season:

Tar Heels’ defensive surge continues.

Is it a coincidence that UNC has become an apparent defensive juggernaut just in time for the real start of the conference schedule? Or is it, perhaps, a result of playing ACC teams that are, shall we say, less than stellar offensively? Probably a little bit of both.

Still, though, the Tar Heels’ defensive improvement can’t be understated, and it’s one of the main reasons – perhaps the main reason – why UNC has gone from good to approaching greatness in recent weeks. Some of its strongest defensive performances have come since the start of the new year, and that trend continued on Saturday.

The Tar Heels held a 31-16 lead near the midpoint of the first half, and Syracuse then was 5-for-20 from the field. Some of that was the fruit of the Orange’s ineffective execution and rushed shots but a lot of it, too, was attributable to a UNC defense that is more consistently active and menacing than it was throughout November and December.

If UNC defends like it did throughout much of Saturday, and like it has through the first two weeks of 2024, there’s no reason to doubt UNC’s potential to make a deep postseason run in a couple months.

Another standout performance for RJ Davis

It’s only mid-January and the North Carolina sporting media is already running out of positive adjectives to describe how well RJ Davis is playing. Let’s just say he has been great. And was, again, on Saturday.

We’ll get to the more showy statistics momentarily, but one that might’ve flown under the radar against Syracuse: Davis had five steals during the first 25 minutes of the game. That tied his season (and career) high, and it’s reflective of UNC’s defensive progression in recent weeks. Indeed, it helps when a team’s best player is also among its most active, and effective defensive players.

On the other end of the court, it was another in a long line of stellar performances for Davis. He finished with 22 points. He made four of his six 3-point attempts. Saturday was his 10th game with at least 20 points, and his 13th consecutive scoring in double figures.

And he didn’t even play the last 10 or so minutes, with the game in hand.

Cue all the usual disclaimers about it being a long season (it is) and how there’s a lot of basketball to play (yes) and how teams and players must avoid complacency (sure). All true. Also true: Davis has been the ACC’s best, most consistent player. And he’s showing no signs of slowing down.

A double double-double, and old-school dominance in the paint

In the old days of facing Syracuse’s vaunted 2-3 zone (OK, not all that long ago, but still), UNC often tried to beat it by attacking the middle. Former Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim may twitch from time to time upon the memory of UNC big men of the past getting free down low for dunks or layups against defense.

Boeheim retired after last season and his successor, Adrian Autry, bid farewell to the 2-3 in favor of a man-to-man. Indeed, it was disorienting to see Syracuse come to town and not hunker down in that zone, which was its trademark for decades. At least one thing, though, was familiar: UNC attacked the paint (as is usually the priority) and found success.

The result was a double double-double for the Tar Heels, with both Armando Bacot (16 points and 11 rebounds) and Harrison Ingram (11 points and 10 rebounds) mostly having their way on both ends. One could argue Ingram has been UNC’s second-most important player this season. He does a bit of everything, and most of it all at a high level. Bacot has been less consistent but found his way Saturday.

And there was Roy Williams, UNC’s retired former head coach, taking it all in from his usual seat over the home tunnel in the Smith Center on Saturday. Williams used to seem to embrace the challenge of solving Boeheim’s zone (especially when he had a dominant big man or two, which was often the case during his tenure). This time, he could sit back and relax and take in and old-school kind of performance down low out of Bacot and Ingram.