North Carolina aims to halt a four-game road losing streak Saturday when it visits Syracuse in Atlantic Coast Conference action.
The Tar Heels (14-11, 7-6 ACC) have lost five of their last seven games. Included in that stretch are road defeats against Wake Forest, Pitt, Duke and Clemson. Their recent losses to the Blue Devils and Tigers have come by a combined margin of 37 points.
In Monday’s 85-65 setback against the No. 23 Tigers, North Carolina received 18 points from dynamic guard RJ Davis. The fifth-year senior made 2 of 5 3-point attempts, while his teammates were a combined 2-of-14 from long distance.
“I just think (Clemson was) the better team tonight,” Davis said. “They were the more hungry team, and they played like they wanted it more than us. … That’s just the frustrating part about it. We just can’t get over that hump and continue to show that we want it more.”
North Carolina certainly appeared like a hungry team in last season’s first matchup with Syracuse – a 103-67 romp in Chapel Hill. However, when the teams reconvened a month later in Central New York, it was the Orange who emerged with an 86-79 victory.
Fast-forward to the present and Syracuse (11-14, 5-9) is desperate for a win after losing five of its last seven outings. The team fell to Miami 91-84 in its most recent contest despite 47 combined points from J.J. Starling (25) and Eddie Lampkin Jr. (22).
“He was aggressive. Eddie plays hard. That’s the one thing he does every game. He brings it,” Syracuse coach Adrian Autry said of Lampkin.
Aside from Starling and Lampkin, the other three starters for the Orange combined for eight points against the Hurricanes. For his part, Starling shot just 1-of-6 from 3-point range and has not exceeded 33.3 percent shooting from outside the arc in any of the last five games.
Meanwhile, North Carolina is looking for more scoring from its bench. The Tar Heel reserves combined for 11 points on 4-of-18 shooting against Clemson.
North Carolina leads the all-time series with Syracuse 17-7.
–Field Level Media
