North Carolina starts strong, loses 57-45 at No. 2 Syracuse to go to 0-3 in the ACC
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North Carolina has beaten Michigan State, Kentucky and reigning national champion Louisville in this up-and-down season, but the Tar Heels were no match for No. 2 Syracuse.
A strong start keyed by James Michael McAdoo vanished amid the Orange's flailing arms and diving bodies, and Syracuse beat UNC 57-45 on Saturday in an Atlantic Coast Conference marquee matchup.
Forwards C.J. Fair and Jerami Grant combined for 32 points and 20 rebounds to pace the Orange, who shot a season-low 35 percent (21 of 60) and still won handily, leading by as many as 19 late in the second half.
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"They got by and won a game shooting 35 percent," said UNC coach Roy Williams, who dropped to 1-4 against Syracuse in his Hall of Fame career. "The first six or eight or 10 minutes, I thought we were aggressive. We were involved. I thought after that point they were just so much more aggressive than we were. It ends up a 12-point game, but it really was more than a 12-point game.
"They had so much more intensity than we did."
Not at the start.
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North Carolina attacked the middle of the Syracuse zone with great success at the outset, with McAdoo hitting a pair of jumpers and J.P. Tokoto another from the foul line as the Tar Heels gained an 8-4 lead in the first 4 minutes.
"We started slow, let McAdoo get in the lane," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "Once we got back in front, our defense was good the whole game."
The Orange regrouped after a timeout and went on a 17-5 run keyed by Fair and Grant, who did all the scoring. Fair, who had three early turnovers and was struggling at the start, hit a 3 from the wing and converted three free throws to give Syracuse a 19-15 lead, and two free throws by Grant completed a 10-0 spurt that put the Orange on top to stay, 21-15 at 8:53.
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The Tar Heels cooled off in a big way after the solid start, unable to penetrate inside. After Paige converted a three-point play with 13:04 left, UNC got only a fast-break slam dunk by McAdoo, a layup by Nate Britt and a jumper in the lane by Leslie McDonald in the ensuing 11 minutes and went into the locker room at halftime trailing 34-22.
"For us, not being able to get looks — we were successful early in the game. That's really on us, McAdoo said. "And also them being really good."
Syracuse (16-0, 3-0 ACC) evened its all-time record against the North Carolina (10-6, 0-3) to 4-4. UNC started 0-2 in ACC play three times in the past five years and five times overall, and the loss to Syracuse equaled the worst conference start in school history in 1996-97, Dean Smith's final year as head coach.
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The last time North Carolina scored fewer than 45 points was in a 56-44 loss to eventual national champion Villanova in the Southeast Regional final of the 1985 NCAA tournament. The Tar Heels also beat North Carolina State 45-44 in February 1997.
UNC shot 2 of 12 from behind the arc against the Syracuse zone and 20 of 51 (39.2 percent) overall and was outrebounded 41-35, 17-10 on the offensive glass, netting just two second-chance points.
"They were just playing harder," said Tokoto, who finished with three points on 1-of-6 shooting. "That's pretty much what it was. We couldn't knock down the shots we needed to make and go on our run."
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The Tar Heels don't play again for a week, when they host Boston College.
"Can't go backwards," Tokoto said. "It's on to the next game. Just got to look at the film, look at what we did wrong as a team, and where we can improve on."
North Carolina was coming off a 63-57 home loss to Miami in which the Tar Heels shot just 31 percent (20 for 65) and finished with a season-low scoring output against Miami's zone.
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This game, which featured teams with a combined 3,990 wins (UNC is third with 2,100 and Syracuse fifth with 1,890) was decided by a dominant first half by the Orange.
Tyler Ennis finished with 10 points and seven assists to go with a season-high four turnovers, and Trevor Cooney had five steals and 10 points on 4-of-17 shooting. Rakeem Christmas contributed eight rebounds and had four of the Orange's nine blocks.
Marcus Paige led North Carolina with 17 points and McAdoo had 15 points and nine rebounds.
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