Syracuse (19-10, 9-7 Atlantic Coast) travels to face No. 7 North Carolina (23-6, 12-5) in Chapel Hill on Monday night. The last time these teams played, SU head coach Jim Boeheim was returning from a nine-game suspension on Jan. 9. The Tar Heels pulled away late to secure an 84-73 win, but since then, the Orange has rattled off nine ACC wins. If Syracuse could pull off the upset win, it would likely lock up an NCAA Tournament berth.

Here’s how our beat writers predict the game will unfold.

Sam Blum (19-10)
Syracuse 83, North Carolina 81
Chewing Tobacco 

Syracuse got back on track against N.C. State, and the Orange has shown its streaky nature before. A win on Monday and SU is in the Tournament and then some. Expect Tyler Roberson to find whatever was lost since facing Duke in his return to the Tar Heel State, and Michael Gbinije to pick up where he left on Saturday. The ACC has had a crazy season. Expect peak craziness in the Dean Dome on Monday.

Jesse Dougherty (20-9)
North Carolina 84, Syracuse 77
Race to the finish 

It’s really hard to keep the Tar Heels under 80 points, and Syracuse won’t be able to accomplish that in Chapel Hill on Monday night due to North Carolina’s frontcourt play. The Orange also won’t be able to score 80 points of their own, and that’s the simple formula for UNC avoiding an upset on its home floor. The loss doesn’t really set SU back in its fight for an NCAA Tournament bid, it just turns out to be a missed opportunity to pretty much guarantee itself one. On to Florida State, another “must-win” game.

Matt Schneidman (21-8)
North Carolina 76, Syracuse 65
On their heels

If the Orange upsets the Tar Heels at the Dean Dome, it’ll solidify a decent NCAA Tournament seeding. If not, a win against Florida State on the road would likely be needed to absolutely secure a spot in the field. North Carolina is too good to lose back-to-back games this late in the season — which it’s only done one other time this year. Brice Johnson and Kennedy Meeks, once again, are too much for SU to handle down low and Boeheim and Co. are somewhat on their heels heading into the regular season finale against the Seminoles.

Published on February 29, 2016 at 8:29 am