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The Daily Tar Heel

No. 10 UNC men's basketball beats Syracuse, 78-74, for sixth straight win

Joel Berry dribbling

Guard Joel Berry II (2) dribbles the ball past a Notre Dame defender during UNC's 83-66 win on Feb. 12 in the Smith Center.

There were two minutes and 20 seconds left in the second half.

The No. 10 North Carolina men’s basketball team was tied, 74-74, with Syracuse. The Orange had gone on a 20-9 run to tie the game.

UNC's players stepped out onto the court, loosening up for the final stretch. With a steal and lay-up, senior guard Joel Berry II pushed the Tar Heels ahead with 1:15 to go. After another timeout, UNC missed a shot and Syracuse rebounded it.

There's another timeout with 32.6 seconds left.

Syracuse couldn't convert, and senior Theo Pinson rebounded the miss. A few seconds later, Berry was fouled and hit both free throws, pushing UNC's lead to four.

Seconds later, the buzzer sounded on the Tar Heels' sixth consecutive victory, the best streak in the ACC. Here are three takeaways from UNC’s narrow 78-74 victory.

Pinson's career night

For the first time in his career, Pinson has now scored double digits in four consecutive games. He scored a career-high 23 points on 9-12 shooting, including 2-2 on threes and 3-4 on free throws.

He led UNC in points, as well as assists with seven. He also added six rebounds and three steals. Pinson moved the ball well against the Orange's famous 2-3 zone, and made a heads-up play in pushing the ball ahead to Berry with a 76-74 lead, which allowed a few more precious seconds to run off the clock.

Bench steps up

On Wednesday night, seven out of 11 Tar Heels who played ended up scoring. This gave some relief to Berry, who had 18 points, and made up for the performance of junior Luke Maye, who had just nine points.

UNC got 17 points from its bench. All of those points came from two players. First-year forward Sterling Manley had 12 points and six rebounds, five of them offensive. First-year guard Andrew Platek scored the remaining five points on 2-2 shooting.

Breaking the zone

As a whole, the team played well against Syracuse's 10th-ranked scoring defense. UNC assisted on 25 of its 29 field goals, and had 15 offensive rebounds.

The Tar Heels also bested the Orange in rebounding (38 to 34) and steals (nine to four). A number of UNC players utilized pump fakes and no-look passes, which showed their trust in their teammates.

North Carolina finishes up its regular season with a home game against Miami on Feb. 27 at 9 p.m. and a road game against Duke on March 3 at 8:15 p.m.

@mwc13_3

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com

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