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By Adam Lucas
1. It might not have been well received on TV, but it was a very, very difficult game in Syracuse. Carolina walks away with a 72-68 win and has now won 10 of 12.
2. RJ Davis will need this weekend off. The tar-heel guard hopped around all night, suffering a headshot and an injured finger, but still held his own to pull a crucial offensive foul in the closing seconds. Davis was still being worked on by the Tar Heel coaching staff after the game.
3. Carolina’s death in the first dozen minutes was exquisite. The Heels had an assist in the first ten baskets of the game and sliced through the Syracuse zone. For the game, they finished with 20 assists on 26 field goals. Davis and Caleb Love each had five.
4. Pete Nance was important in the middle of that 2-3 zone. Nance, like many tall Carolina men, found a weak spot around the ACC logo near the free-throw line. He wasn’t very efficient, going 6-for-17, but he scored 21 points and was a dangerous offensive threat at that point, showing the ability to shoot, drive or pass.
5. Nance hit a clutch free throw with 21.4 seconds left and then benefited from the heels hitting the offensive glass as Leaky Black and Armando Bacot together forced a loose ball that bounced to Nance, who scored to give UNC the lead make sure they didn’t give up.
6. Davis drawing the offensive foul will draw most of the attention but he also played a very good defense against Mintz on the previous possession when Orange clearly wanted Mintz to get a shot. He finally got it, but Davis bothered him so much it was a failure.
7. Some good minutes from Carolina Bank’s Tyler Nickel. Playing 12 minutes, Nickel hit a three and had a very loud block on Mintz that thwarted a Syracuse fast break. The tar heel bank continues to be about players finding a way to contribute from game to game – and it’s someone different every night.
8. Caleb Love’s shooting looked much better in the first half as he hit three threes. Love only needed seven field goal attempts and scored 15 points. He also made six trips to the free throw line, making four. He didn’t look for his shot much in the second half, but given the gossip about how aggressive he usually is offensively, it’s hard to complain that he didn’t shoot. He also made three of four key free throws with less than 11 seconds remaining.
9. Syracuse only took three free throws, which will certainly be a point of discussion. There were too many reviews that lasted too long in this game, but on a positive note the crew set the tone for what was and wasn’t called early and mostly stuck with it. Many postal contacts went unnoticed, but it stayed that way all night.
10. Carolina forced 17 cuse turnovers and turned them into 21 points. Nine of these came via UNC thefts, four from Nance.
11. Great time to take a break. Hopefully Carolina can get Puff Johnson back to health (who missed a second straight game with a knee injury) and now has RJ Davis to look after. The Heels are not playing again until a home date with Pitt on February 1st.