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During his opening statements at postgame press conferences, Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry always likes to mention how his team did during the rebounding battle.

But as he got to the podium following the Orange’s worst loss since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference, he only talked about how the Tar Heels were the far more physical team. Eventually, he got asked out rebounding.

“They were tougher than us, they went after it,” Autry said. “We all know what (Armando) Bacot and (Harrison) Ingram can do.”

It’s hard to blame Autry for feeling this way. In its 103-67 loss to No. 7 North Carolina (13-3, 5-0 Atlantic Coast), Syracuse (11-5, 2-3 ACC) was outrebounded 53-30, with All-ACC center Bacot bullying Maliq Brown and anyone else who got in his way. The Tar Heels played aggressively down low, finishing with 19 offensive rebounds and 22 second chance points.

Aside from Bacot, who only played 17 minutes, the Orange were outmatched around the basket against the conference’s best rebounding team.

Even as recent as this past Wednesday, Brown has had success against one of the best big men in the ACC in BC’s Quinten Post. This came as a result of starting center Naheem McLeod being ruled out indefinitely with a right foot injury. With Brown primarily guarding Post, the Eagles’ center fouled out and scored zero points for the first time all season.

While Brown said he wasn’t sure if there was a difference between Post and Bacot, he played with tight focus on UNC’s first possession. Brown remained so focused in fact that ball handler Elliot Cadeau wrapped around Bacot off the screen and scored on an open layup. Minutes later, Bacot, with two inches over the SU forward, received a pass from Ingram in the paint and beat Brown.

“He was just getting into his spots,” Brown said of Bacot.

But Brown wasn’t alone in failing to stop North Carolina down low. Once Bacot was on the bench, his teammates shined as well. Sophomore forward Jalen Washington scooped up an Ingram miss and scored on the physical layup to give the Tar Heels their first double digit lead of the afternoon.

On the fast break, which is what UNC has become so well-known for, it dominated on the second chance opportunities. Kyle Cuffe Jr. dribbled down the court, but as he entered North Carolina territory, the ball hit off his sneaker. It led to a frantic turnover with Ingram getting the ball and starting a fast break. While Ingram missed on the layup attempt, backup Jae’lyn Withers was there on the follow-up. The blowout was now up to 27.

Especially inside, Syracuse’s defense shifted throughout the game going between man and zone, which Autry said came as a response to UNC. But Tar Heel head coach Hubert Davis said irregardless of what defense SU played, the focus was on the offensive rebounding.

“As good as Syracuse is, they’re limited in the front court,” Davis said. “And so we wanted to get the ball inside whether through post penetration (or) offensive rebounding.”

When guys like Bacot and Ingram were breezing past their defenders, they fought on the boards to give North Carolina chance after chance.

Midway through the second half, Ingram’s 3-point attempt from the left corner hit the rim. Davis was there to quickly grab the rebound, though. The ACC’s leading scorer tried to hit a jumper and missed as well. But even with a double team on him, Bacot used his height to grab the rebound and score on the third shot of the possession.

Even on the Tar Heels’ second possession of the afternoon, they were already starting to dominate from the offensive boards. After Cormac Ryan missed a wide open 3-pointer, Bacot nabbed the rebound and scored with a double-team in his face. Ingram helped North Carolina get to 70 points when he grabbed a missed jumper from Bacot and scored on a layup himself.

As starters like Bacot and Ingram got subbed out, the UNC backups were still tallying offensive rebounds. On the last possession of the game, Zayden High missed a 3-pointer, but James Okonkwo leaped for the ball and got it. With his team already at 103 points, Davis waited around for the last 20 seconds for the handshake with Autry.

“That’s what they do,” Autry said. “We just didn’t do a good job of keeping bodies on them. We just didn’t do a good job at all, defensively.”

Published on January 13, 2024 at 4:10 pm

Contact Henry: [email protected]