Three takeaways from North Carolina’s victory over Syracuse at the Carrier Dome

Don’t look now, but North Carolina is catching fire.

The Tar Heels won their second consecutive game on Saturday after defeating Syracuse 92-79 at the Carrier Dome in what was one of their best offensive performances of the season.

“It feels good,” UNC senior Brandon Robinson said of the win. “We’ve had some of these games where we came out hot and teams battled back, and we ended up on the losing end.

“But today, we got that lead, Syracuse went on their run, but we started chipping away, chipping way and scoring on the offensive end.”

It was the first time the Tar Heels scored 90 points on the road this season, and only the third time they scored 90 or more in a game. The vibe in the locker room was positive. Players were buzzing. Sophomore guard Leaky Black said Roy Williams greeted his team with a shimmy after the win.

The Tar Heels are getting better.

Here were three takeaways from the game:

1. Garrison Brooks and Cole Anthony clicking

It took a few games, but the Tar Heels have figured out that going through junior forward Garrison Brooks first is how they best generate offense.

Brooks scored a game-high 26 points for the Tar Heels on Saturday. He was dominant against Syracuse’s zone defense. And that opened up things for freshman guard Cole Anthony, who finished with 25 points and seven 3-pointers.

“(Garrison) is a beast,” said Anthony, who also had 7 assists. “That’s what I’ve been saying for a while now. He’s a beast.”

It was the first time this season that both players scored 25 points in the same game.

When Anthony was out those 11 games in December and January with a partial tear in his meniscus, Brooks became the Tar Heels’ primary scoring option.

But in Anthony’s first few games after returning from a knee injury, it was clear that he and Brooks were not on the same page. And it led to some frustrations.

After UNC’s loss to Florida State on Feb. 3 (Anthony’s second game back), one in which Brooks scored only 5 points and took only eight shots, Brooks told the media that he was open, and just didn’t get the ball. Anthony took 22 shots in that game, and missed 17.

But in the six games since then, Brooks has scored at least 18 points in all but one game (against Wake Forest). With Brooks’ effectiveness in the post, it has opened up things for Anthony on the perimeter.

Against Syracuse, Anthony was as efficient as he has been all season, making 8 of 13 field goal attempts, including shooting 7 of 11 from 3-point range.

Anthony was also efficient against N.C. State on Tuesday. He scored 19 points and shot 58 percent from the floor. Brooks had 30 points in that game.

When asked why they were so successful, Brooks said, “the way Cole is out there moving the ball, and we’re making shots.”

“The biggest thing is making shots,” Brooks added.

2. Christian Keeling feeling it

Keeling, a graduate senior guard who transferred from Charleston Southern last offseason, has finally found his groove. He scored 18 points and was 7-for-11 from the floor against Syracuse.

Most of his shots were long 2’s, but he’s also hitting the 3-pointer. And that has done wonders for UNC’s offense recently.

At Charleston Southern, Keeling averaged 18.7 points per game during his junior year.

But he struggled early in the year at UNC. He was in a severe shooting slump. In his first 21 games, he scored in double figures only once.

“Early in the year, he has an ability to score, but his shot wasn’t going in,” UNC coach Roy Williams said after Saturday’s game. “He was turning it over, he wasn’t guarding it very well, I said ‘son, you’ve got to give me something to hang my hat on to put you in the game.’”

In Keeling’s last eight games, he has reached double figures six times.

Keeling said he started to gain confidence after Robinson went out with an ankle injury, and he knew he had to step up. He was confident in the long 2-pointer. The more he made it, the more confident he got.

Over his last two games, he is averaging 17 points per game and is shooting 14 of 20 from the floor. He is also 4 of 8 from 3.

“Making shots for him was really important for us, too,” Williams said.

Keeling went down with an ankle injury late in the second half. It appeared to be a non-contact injury and he had to be helped off the floor. Keeling later returned to the game.

“I think I bruised it, but I don’t think it’s nothing major for me to miss a game or nothing,” Keeling said. “I had to be tough. Coach needed me in for the last couple of minutes, so I needed to tough it out.”

3. Tar Heels have a chance to get out of 15th in ACC standings

UNC is still ranked 15th in the ACC standings, but gained some ground on Pittsburgh, which lost its sixth consecutive ACC game on Saturday. With two games remaining — including one against Wake Forest on Tuesday — UNC is 1/2 game behind Pitt, one behind Wake Forest and 1 1/2 games behind Miami and Virginia Tech.

While the Tar Heels would certainly need some help, they could rise as high as No. 11 in the ACC standings in time for the ACC tournament if they win out.

After Wake Forest, the Tar Heels play Duke on the road in the season-finale on March 7.

The Tar Heels lost to the Blue Devils 98-96 in overtime after leading by double digits in the second half.

But after taking double-digit leads in their last two games against N.C. State and Syracuse, the Tar Heels have closed both games. That has given them confidence.

“We obviously got to focus on finishing up the season, just making sure we’re getting better,” Anthony said. “But I don’t see why we can’t make a run.”

This story was originally published March 1, 2020 at 6:00 AM.