Observations from SU’s OT loss to UNC: Shades of Wake Forest, Jimmy improves

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C.— After a blowout 25-point loss to Duke on Saturday, Syracuse traveled to UNC. The Tar Heels are currently on the bubble of Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology, and a win over them would give SU a notable addition to its resume with March knocking on the door.

But Syracuse (15-15, 9-10 Atlantic Coast) could not find that needed win in a 88-79 overtime loss to North Carolina (22-8, 14-5 ACC) on Monday. After combining for two points against Duke, Cole Swider and Jimmy Boeheim had vastly different starts to tonight’s game.

Swider paced all scorers with 21 at halftime, while Jimmy had three turnovers to two points. In the second half, Jimmy grew into his new role as a point forward, which allowed him to find new ways to contribute on offense. Swider would finish the game with a career-high 36 points.

Here are four observations from Syracuse’s overtime loss to North Carolina:

Swider steps up

After scoring two points, and being benched for most of the second half against Duke, Swider quickly found success. Just eight seconds after tip-off, Swider got the ball at the top of the arc and immediately cashed in a 3-pointer, outscoring his point total from the game before.

One minute later, Swider peeled away from his usual spot in the corner for a mid-range jumper from inside the arc. But most of his success came from 3. When Joe Girard III almost lost possession under the basket, he threw a cross-court pass to the opposite corner for Swider to swish another 3.

His confidence grew throughout the half by hitting a tough baseline jumper and then two 3s in a row from the top of the arc. His shooting was important for SU as it tried to keep pace with the Tar Heels, who opened the night 6-for-11 from 3. By the end of the first half, Swider was 5-for-6 from 3 and scored 21 points in 20 minutes.

Jimmy struggles again

While Swider had a rebound game, Jimmy struggled to bounce back from his zero-point performance against Duke. After the loss to the Blue Devils, head coach Jim Boeheim hypothesized that Duke was just too big for Jimmy and Swider to score. In the first half, Swider proved he could get it done against the Tar Heels, while Jimmy continued to fade.

First, Jimmy pivoted with the ball on the right-wing, but as his defender closed in on him, Jimmy’s feet moved too much, resulting in a turnover. On the next possession, Jimmy had a chance to score low, but his hook shot went wide-right and air balled.

Nothing was more evident of his struggles than an inbound play halfway through the first half. The Orange had just come out of a timeout with Jimmy inbounding the ball. He sent it to Buddy Boeheim, but he passed the ball right back to Jimmy while his foot was still out of bounds.

Jimmy would later have a defensive rebound snatched out of his hands by UNC’s Puff Johnson, who tied the game for the first time. He finished the first half shooting 1-for-6 from the field.

Jimmy as a point forward

In what might’ve been an effort to try something new, the Orange deployed Jimmy as the primary ball carrier on inbound plays. Syracuse was missing usual backup point guard Symir Torrence as the junior guard was out injured after sustaining a cut to the head against Duke. Boeheim especially relied on the lineup with Jimmy as a point forward in the second half, electing to go for a smaller lineup and put Benny Williams in for Bourama Sidibe.

Jimmy would often bring the ball up and either pass to a curling Girard or Buddy from the wings. While Jimmy committed three turnovers in the first half with the ball in his hands, he only committed one in the second. After going 1-for-6 in the first, Jimmy started 3-for-4 in the second half as his new role allowed him to tack on an assist along with creating some scoring opportunities for the struggling forward.

Shades of Wake Forest

With 15.9 seconds left in regulation, Syracuse was up 71-70. The Orange had possession under North Carolina’s basket, just having to inbound the ball. Girard looked for his backcourt partner Buddy on the pass, but it bounced off Buddy’s feet and went out of play. Caleb Love hit a long 3 with Girard replying to send it to overtime. But just like against Wake Forest in January, overtime could’ve been avoided with one inbound play.

In the overtime, the offense had a similar performance to that in Winston-Salem. The Orange stalled out. Swider, who was having a career day, missed to open overtime. Then Buddy had a 3-point attempt tipped, rending it very short of the basket. On a missed Swider 3 in overtime, Girard tried to gather the rebound and take a shot in the same moment but had it fall out of his hands and out of bounds. The Orange ultimately fell in overtime and missed another chance to notch a notable win.

It was a second loss this season where SU could’ve ended it in regulation, but an unforced error turned a would-be win into a loss. It leaves SU in a precarious position needing to beat Miami next week to avoid finishing a season under .500 for the first time in Boeheim’s tenure.