If you said you saw this coming, let's just say you're among the overwhelming minority. Sure, many SU basketball fans thought the Orange had a chance, a real good chance to beat #4 North Carolina, but not too many forsaw the absolute drubbing the Orange put to the Tar Heels.
Syracuse took an early lead on North Carolina by a score of 8-0 and then 11-2, but the Tar Heels rallied and the rest of the first half was back and forth until UNC took a 39-37 halftime lead. The Orange was on a mission in the 2nd half opening the latter portion of the game on a 22-1 run! That run gave Syracuse a remarkable 59-40 lead. The lead stretched to 20 at 62-42 at one point until UNC went on a run of its own, an 18-6 outburst to be exact to close the gap to 68-60. Syracuse though was not about to let the home away from home crowd at Madison Square Garden be dissapointed, and responded with by outscoring UNC 13-2 over the next four minutes, the run was capped off by an emphatic Kris Joseph slam.
Joseph scored 10 points, 6 of those came from beyond the arc and grabbed 6 rebounds. Wes Johnson led the 'Cuse in scoring with 27 points and snagged 9 rebounds. Andy Rautins stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, 7 steals, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. The two-headed monster of Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson combined for 22 points and 10 rebounds.
No doubt, this team looks fantastic and is much better than its borderline top-25 ranking. And No matter what happens over the course of the next 5 months, Orange fans will never forget the night their team took it to might North Carolina, and was triumphant.
