|
Off the cuff: When Carolina destroyed Syracuse at home back in January, 103-67, the Orange shot 37 percent. No one could have predicted that they'd shoot better than 62 percent this time. In a game that had a mere four-point difference with two minutes left, it would have been wild if the heavily-favored Tar Heels could have pulled it off. But that very well could have happened if the Tar Heels hadn't turned the ball over four times down the stretch (they had turned it over just seven times over the first 38 minutes of the game). One turnover came on an out-of-bounds call that had gone to the Tar Heels before it was overturned by video replay. Officials went to the monitor four times over the last two minutes. The second review resulted in officials saying the ball went off Harrison Ingram's fingers when it was virtually impossible to tell on replay. That call shouild not have been overtuned. A basket on that possession would have made it a one-possession game with 1:24 still left. Instead, Syracuse held on by hitting nine free throws from that point on. Cormac Ryan, despite scoring 18 points - including 13 in the first half, became a liability in the second half as he turned the ball over four of his game-high five times. It was mostly bad passes and an inability to hang on to the ball. Despite scoring 79 points, the Heels had to work hard for their points against the Syracuse zone defense. The Orange slowed the game on offense and hit shots or got fouled at the end of the shot clock several times, frustrating Carolina's comebacks. Also thwarting the comeback was the fact that Carolina only shot 11 free throws while Syracuse shot 25 free throws - outscoring the Heels 18-9 from the line. The Heels have been averaging 25 free throws a game themselves. It's certainly concerning that Carolina has lost three of four games and that the team fell apart at the end but the Tar Heels played well enough to beat most teams. It appears to be a case of running into a team that simply hit tough shots.
|
|
