Heels struggle in loss to Syracuse

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Orange crushes Heels

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 shooting.

Heels bounce back to beat Hokies

The most anticipated return for North Carolina on Sunday night was that of defensive stopper Marcus Ginyard, who had missed three straight games with a sprained right ankle. But in the end, it was the comeback of small forward Will Graves, from the same injury, that ended up being most important.

Back in the starting lineup, the junior made all four of his second-half shots to help the ninth-ranked Tar Heels (12-4, 1-0 ACC) top Virginia Tech 78-64 in the ACC opener for both basketball teams.

Graves also recorded two blocks, six rebounds and a steal for a solid overall individual performance at the Smith Center. But it was his three 3-pointers within a three-minute span in the second half that helped UNC pull away and round out an offense that had struggled to hit outside shots in the first half.

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.

Recap: Texas vs. North Carolina

Senior Damion James scored 25 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, as second-ranked Texas kept its undefeated record intact with an impressive 103-90 victory over No. 10 North Carolina in the first hoops game played at the new Cowboys Stadium.

Dexter Pittman, also a senior, bolstered the win with 23 points and 15 boards for the Longhorns (10-0), who have now racked up over 100 points in three of their last four victories.

J'Covan Brown checked in with 21 points and five rebounds, while Avery Bradley added 20 points.

Deacons handle Heels

Was it only eight days ago that fans were talking about the possibility of North Carolina going undefeated? About how its starting point guard was playing the best basketball of his career? About where this the team might end up ranking among the school's all-time best?

Now, Wake Forest faithful might start pondering the same things about their squad.

Led by 34 point from their star ballhandler, Jeff Teague, the fourth-ranked Demon Deacons out-shot, out-paced and downright outplayed No. 3 UNC, winning 92-89 on Sunday at Joel Coliseum.