UNC fends off Syracuse 85-68 for Roy’s 800th win

The No. 9 North Carolina men’s basketball team beat Syracuse, 85-68, on Monday to give head coach Roy Williams his 800th win. He’s the fastest coach in NCAA history to reach 800 wins in terms of seasons coached, doing so in his 29th.

What happened?

The Tar Heels (17-3, 5-1 ACC) started out fast, jumping out to a 9-2 lead over the Orange (11-8, 3-3 ACC). Justin Jackson’s five rebounds in the first 3:02 of the game set the tone for the rest of the night, as UNC dominated the board.

Leading the attack on the glass was Kennedy Meeks, whose tip-ins and second-chance baskets were at times UNC’s primary form of offense. Meeks lived in the paint for the entirety of the first half, and it paid off — his 12 points led all scorers at halftime.

But Syracuse refused to go away quietly, pulling the game back to single digits midway through the second half. Tyler Lydon’s 26 points buoyed the Orange’s offense, which stagnated at times.

Eventually, though, even Lydon’s heroics weren’t enough for UNC’s physicality up front. Isaiah Hicks and Jackson joined Meeks in leading the offense for UNC, scoring 20 and 19 points, respectively.

Then, the Tar Heels pushed their lead back to double digits with around five minutes left, and from there the final score was only a formality.

Who stood out?

Lydon shot 11-for-14 and consistently stifled UNC’s momentum with timely buckets. With such a short Syracuse rotation, he had to dominate both in the paint and from outside the arc.

The story for UNC was more of the same from Saturday’s game against Florida State. Hicks finished with at least 20 points for the second consecutive game, the first time he’s ever done so in his career. Meanwhile, Jackson’s aggressive drives to the basket helped mitigate Lydon’s offensive explosion.

When was it decided?

With 3:36 to play, Jackson got the ball on a breakaway with only Tyus Battle back to stop him. The first-year guard fouled Jackson just as he dipped his shoulder and cut to the basket. The ref called a foul on Battle as Jackson threw the ball up and made a spinning underhand layup to extend the lead to an insurmountable 15-point margin.

Why does it matter?

With just two days’ rest after playing No. 10 Florida State, there was a chance the Tar Heels would come into Monday night’s contest a little drained.

They more than proved that narrative wrong, though, as they maintained a healthy lead for the entire game.

Perhaps even more impressive was the fact that, in a second straight game without first-year Tony Bradley, UNC’s big men stepped up. Hicks and Meeks combined for 35 points and 20 rebounds.

When do they play next?

The Tar Heels play at Boston College on Saturday at 12 p.m.

@BrendanRMarks

sports@dailytarheel.com