Syracuse Falls to #16/20 North Carolina

Saturday, February 21

Syracuse, NY

1 PM

Syracuse University

15-13,6-9ACC

North Carolina

21-6,9-5ACC

North Carolina

Syracuse

2/21/2026 3:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Syracuse (15-13, 6-9 ACC) couldn't overcome an efficient second-half performance from No. 16/20 North Carolina (21-6, 9-5 ACC), falling 77-64 at the JMA Wireless Dome on Saturday afternoon.

Senior J.J. Starling paced the offense with a season-high 22 points while sophomore Tyler Betsey joined him in double digits with 10 points. Sophomore Donnie Freeman tied a career-best with three blocks paired with nine points and seven rebounds.

Henri Veesaar led North Carolina with 19 points and three blocks. Seth Trimble and Luka Bogavac also scored in double figures, scoring 13 apiece. North Carolina shot an 16-of-25 (.615) in the second half to power the Tar Heels ahead.

How the Game Was Decided
With just over four minutes remaining, North Carolina led 63-53 before Veesaar extended the advantage to 12 on a hook shot, pushing the margin to 65-53 with 3:47 to go.

Syracuse refused to go quietly. Freeman converted a free throw and Betsey drained a 3-pointer to pull the Orange back within 10 at 67-57 with 3:10 remaining.

The Tar Heels answered with an 8-0 run, turning what had been a manageable deficit into an insurmountable 18-point lead and putting the game out of reach.

Orange Start Fast
Syracuse wasted no time on offense, scoring on five of their first six possessions to start the game.

The Orange missed their first shot of the contest, but senior William Kyle III snared the offensive board to set up a jumper from senior Nate Kingz for the game's first basket. Kingz and Starling scored four points each while junior Naithan George added a jumper to give Syracuse a 10-4 edge in the opening four minutes.

North Carolina shot just 2-of-7 (.286) and were held without a 3-point make during that stretch. Derek Dixon snapped the sluggish streak with a 3-pointer, though, and closed the gap to 10-7 with 15:37 to go in the first half.

Tightly Contested End to the Half
Syracuse endured a nearly four-minute scoring drought, but North Carolina managed just two points during the stretch to trim the lead to 10-9. Starling snapped the skid with a driving layup at the 12:26 mark, only for Jonathan Powell to answer with a 3-pointer that knotted the game at 12.

Powell's triple ignited a stretch of seven consecutive made field goals for the Tar Heels, four of which came from beyond the arc. The run powered North Carolina to a 21-10 spurt and a 30-22 lead with under four minutes remaining in the half. Syracuse chipped away late, but the Tar Heels carried a 33-28 advantage into the break.

Starling led the scoring for Syracuse in the first half with eight points while freshman Sadiq White was close behind with six. Freeman topped the team with six rebounds and two blocks. Veesaar led all scorers with nine points on 4-of-5 (.800) shooting for the Tar Heels.

Syracuse Draws Even
The Orange continued to draw closer over the first eight minutes of the second half, slowly chipping away at the Tar Heel advantage. With just under 13 minutes to go and the Orange trailing 44-40, Starling drove through traffic and hit a layup through a foul, but missed the free throw.

On the ensuing possession, Kyle III tipped away a pass for a steal, took it the length of the floor, and threw down a one-handed dunk to tie the game at 44-44.

Starling powered the comeback, scoring 10 of the Orange's first 16 points of the frame.

Tar Heels Open Up Lead
After the Orange drew even, they suffered a scoreless stretch over the next three minutes. Meanwhile, the Tar Heels rattled off a 9-2 run to propel them back in front, 53-46.

Seth Trimble hit a layup and drew a foul to finish a three-point play to give North Carolina its first double-digit lead of the contest, 56-46. Freeman later scored in the paint to pull the Orange within eight, 59-51, with 4:43 remaining. North Carolina hit six-of-eight free throws over the final 2:26 to clinch the triumph.

Notable Numbers

The attendance at Saturday's contest totaled 23,606 – the largest on-campus crowd of the season in college basketball.
Syracuse faced a ranked foe for the fourth time in the last six outings (including North Carolina twice).
Starling scored 14 points on 7-of-12 (.583) in the second half.
Syracuse, after entering the day second in Division I blocked-shot average (6.3), recorded five blocks in the loss.
The Orange forced 10 Tar Heel turnovers.
Betsey hit three 3-pointers, matching a previous best effort in ACC-play.
Kyle III recorded a blocked shot for the ninth consecutive contest. Following Friday night's contests, Kyle III ranked fifth in blocked shots and fifth in blocked-shot average among Division I players.

Up Next
The Orange will be back in action next Saturday, February 28, when they play at Wake Forest. The contest with the Demon Deacons is set for a 5:45 p.m. start and will air on The CW.

Syracuse Tickets
Season and individual tickets are available at cuse.com/feature/basketball-tickets