Instant Juice: Syracuse 66, North Carolina 83

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Syracuse was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament
coleman_unc
Syracuse was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament

A quick take on Syracuse’s 83-66 loss against North Carolina in the 2016 Regional Semifinal:

WHAT HAPPENED: Trailing by double digits going into halftime, and for most of the second half, Syracuse cut the lead to 57-50 with 9:51 left. But Theo Pinson and Marcus Paige drained back-breaking 3-pointers on consecutive possessions, putting away any hope that the Orange could rally like it did against Virginia last week.

» Related: Syracuse men’s and women’s team make history by making Final Four

ANALYSIS: Nothing to be ashamed about in this loss. Syracuse wasn’t expected to make the Sweet 16, Elite 8 or Final Four. And two weeks ago, SU’s status for the NCAA Tournament was up in the air. In the long history of Syracuse basketball, there hasn’t been a run quite like this one, and no 10-seed has ever advanced this far in the tournament. Put simply: History will look well on this Syracuse team.

HERO: Trevor Cooney, perhaps rewriting his legacy with his second Final Four run, led the Orange with 22 points on 9-18 shooting. Malachi Richardson, perhaps also playing his final game for SU, chipped in 17. Balance was the name of the game for North Carolina, with four players (Johnson, Meeks, Jackson and Paige) with 13 or more points.

ZERO: Syracuse shot just 4-13 from the line, and 40.6 from the field. UNC was once again nonplussed with the 2-3 zone, as the Orange allowed the Tar Heels to shoot over 50 percent from the field.

WHAT’S NEXT: Syracuse has two main questions heading into the offseason: 1. Will one or both of Tyler Lydon and Malachi Richardson jump to the NBA? 2. With an open scholarship, will the Orange add another big man such as Taurean Thompson? Retaining the two freshmen and adding another for the class of 2016 will go a long way in returning to the Final Four next season.

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About Wes Cheng 2907 Articles
Wes has worked for Rivals.com covering the New York Knicks, as well as for Scout.com covering Syracuse athletics. Wes has also been a contributing writer for the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), for SportsNet New York (SNY) as a news desk writer covering all of New York professional sports, and reported on the NBA and MLB for the New York Sportscene. A native of Long Island, New York, Wes graduated from Syracuse University in 2005 with a degree in journalism. Contact him at wes[at]sujuiceonline.com.