UNC basketball will try to bring an end to its road woes at Syracuse on Saturday (6 p.m., ESPN) at the JMA Wireless Dome.
The Tar Heels (14-11, 7-6 ACC) have lost five of their last seven games, including four straight on the road as it prepares to face the Orange (11-14, 5-9).
UNC has lost two of its last three games at Syracuse, including a seven-point loss last season. The Heels are coming off a pair of losses at Duke and Clemson in which they trailed by 20-plus points. Those defeats pushed UNC well outside of the NCAA Tournament bubble. As of Thursday afternoon, UNC is included in five of 107 bracket projections on Bracket Matrix.com.
It’s an uphill climb to get back into the March Madness conversation and UNC only has one Quadrant-1 opportunity remaining among its final seven games: Duke in the regular-season finale on March 8.
TIME’S RUNNING OUT: UNC basketball will likely have to win ACC Tournament to make NCAA Tournament | Baxley
Here are some other things to know and a score prediction for UNC vs. Syracuse.
UNC’s RJ Davis is playing his best basketball of the season
RJ Davis averaged 20.5 points in two games against Syracuse last season. While the Tar Heels are struggling as a whole, Davis has played some of his best basketball in the last seven games. During that stretch, Davis averaged 18 points on 48.2% shooting, including 45.2% from 3-point range. Davis needs to keep that up if UNC wants any chance of turning its season around.
JJ Starling capable of help helping Orange crush Tar Heels’ NCAA Tournament odds
Like Davis, Syracuse guard JJ Starling is one of the ACC’s top scorers. Starling is averaging 18.6 points per game, but he’s pushed that up to 26.5 points in the last two games. The 6-foot-4 guard is a bad matchup for UNC’s smaller backcourt and had success against the Heels last season, scoring 23 points in a win.
How will UNC’s post players match up with Syracuse’s Eddie Lampkin?
Colorado transfer Eddie Lampkin is capable of wrecking UNC’s frontcourt. The 6-foot-11, 265-pound center is averaging 18 points and 15.5 rebounds in the last two games. The Tar Heels have struggled to limit talented big men, so UNC’s best route for success is spreading things out and making Lampkin work on the defensive end. If Ven-Allen Lubin and Jalen Washington aren’t ready to match Lampkin’s physicality, UNC will be in trouble.
UNC vs Syracuse score prediction
UNC 77, Syracuse 73: The Tar Heels are mediocre, but they haven’t lost to a squad like the Orange this season. Despite the close calls against bad teams, UNC got it done. There’s not much to suggest the Heels are capable of getting right on the road, but ‘Cuse just lost to Miami. UNC is the safer bet in a toss-up game.
Rodd Baxley covers Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Got questions regarding those teams? Send them to [email protected].
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: UNC basketball vs Syracuse: Score prediction, scouting report
