Orange crushes Heels

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Orange and Tar Heels meet at Madison Square Garden

The championship game of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer pits the sixth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels against the dangerous Syracuse Orange.

No team nationally has been more dominant than Syracuse thus far, as it has won its first three games by an average margin in excess of 31 points. Last night, the team completely dismantled 13th-ranked California in a 95-73 final in front of the New York crowd, and there will obviously be plenty of fans wearing orange tonight. A member of the Big East Conference, Syracuse appears to be underrated and may be in position to contend for the league title in 2009-10, something that many fans didn't see as a possibility.

As for North Carolina, it lost four players to the NBA from last season's team that won the national title. Fortunately, head coach Roy Williams has done a tremendous job of recruiting, thus explaining the high national ranking. The Heels moved to 4-0 last night with a 77-73 decision over a tough Ohio State squad. UNC is expected to

Syracuse (3-0) at (6) North Carolina (4-0)

GAME NOTES: The championship game of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer pits the sixth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels against the dangerous Syracuse Orange.

No team nationally has been more dominant than Syracuse thus far, as it has won its first three games by an average margin in excess of 31 points. Last night, the team completely dismantled 13th-ranked California in a 95-73 final in front of the New York crowd, and there will obviously be plenty of fans wearing orange tonight. A member of the Big East Conference, Syracuse appears to be underrated and may be in position to contend for the league title in 2009-10, something that many fans didn't see as a possibility.

As for North Carolina, it lost four players to the NBA from last season's team that won the national title. Fortunately, head coach Roy Williams has done a tremendous job of recruiting, thus explaining the high national ranking. The Heels moved to 4-0 last night with a 77-73 decision over a tough Ohio State squad. UNC is

Heels struggle in loss to Syracuse

NEW YORK -- The chants of "over-rated!" began with about three minutes left Friday night at Madison Square Garden. Frankly, they could have begun a whole lot sooner.

Sixth-ranked North Carolina could barely bury a second-half shot, struggled to make second-half stops, and looked exactly like what it is in losing to Syracuse 87-71 in the championship game of the 2K Sports Classic: a team with a lot of talented parts still trying to piece them together into a cohesive, intense, consistent unit.

"They're not the national championship team,'' Orange coach Jim Boeheim reminded everyone (twice) after Syracuse shot 54.4 percent for the game, while using its zone to help force 19 turnovers and hold Carolina to 38.1 percent.

Recap: North Carolina vs. Syracuse

Wesley Johnson was 10-of-17 shooting for 25 points and grabbed eight rebounds, as Syracuse continued an impressive start to the season with an 87-71 thumping of sixth-ranked North Carolina in the championship game of the 2K Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden.

Arinze Onuaku scored 15 while Andy Rautins had 11 points, seven steals, seven boards and seven assists for Syracuse (4-0), which reached the 2K Sports final with a convincing 95-73 rout of 13th-ranked California on Thursday.

The Orange turned the contest on its head to begin the second half with an incredible 22-1 run that saw a two-point halftime deficit morph into a 19- point lead. Syracuse shot a scorching 62.9 percent in the second half compared with UNC's 37.5-percent effort.

Heels hang on to beat Valparaiso

Remember, not too long ago, when a 24-point second-half lead against a mid-major foe at the Smith Center meant an early exit for the fans, playing time for the walk-ons, and an easy win for North Carolina?

The sixth-ranked Tar Heels (3-0) managed to top Valparaiso 88-77 Sunday at the Smith Center, but if their performance continues to look effort-less instead of effortless, it could be a bumpier-than-expected season for what's left of the defending national champions.

"No disrespect to Valparaiso, but we're more talented than they are," said senior Marcus Ginyard, who was so angry and agitated by the performance that he answered some questions in uncharacteristic monosyllables. "And just for them to be in the game like they were, it should never happen. If anything, we just can't carry over this lackadaisical effort over to New York, or we'll have a nasty time up there."