Jim Lee and Rudy Hackett guided Syracuse to its first Final Four in 1975. Now, their jerseys will be retired together in the JMA Wireless Dome Saturday.
Since defeating
7 North Carolina on Feb. 13, 2024, Syracuse men’s basketball has largely faltered. Here’s what’s happened since that upset.
Syracuse’s Adrian Autry and North Carolina’s Hubert Davis have both succeeded legendary head coaches. They’ve struggled to follow legendary predecessors.
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In his third season at the helm, Syracuse men’s basketball head coach Adrian Autry is on the hot seat. The Orange have dropped from the heights they consistently reached during former head coach Jim Boeheim’s 47-year tenure. SU is on course to miss the NCAA Tournament for the fifth consecutive year — something it hasn’t done since between 1967-72.
When the Orange host No. 16 North Carolina Saturday, it’ll serve as a reminder of the standard they no longer live up to. A standard set by Jim Lee and Rudy Hackett, who guided SU to its first Final Four in 1975 and will have their numbers retired in the JMA Wireless Dome Saturday. A standard that Autry showed signs of fulfilling when he upsetted then-No. 7 North Carolina 86-79 on Feb. 13, 2024, in his first season. Since then, it’s been a slow slide. The Tar Heels’ head coach Hubert Davis is familiar with inheriting high expectations following three-time national champion head coach Roy Williams and has been under his own scrutiny.
The Orange’s current outlook is grim. They’re nostalgic for halcyon days of success.
The Daily Orange has everything you need to know before Syracuse’s ACC clash with UNC.
Thanks for reading,
NICHOLAS ALUMKAL
SPORTS EDITOR
Jlong time coming
im Lee was in the Wegmans checkout line when he found out his jersey would hang next to Rudy Hackett’s in the JMA Wireless Dome rafters forever. It was mid-October 2025, over 50 years since the duo last took the court together for Syracuse.
Lee received a call from Syracuse Director of Athletics John Wildhack, alerting him of the news. The former point guard delayed his shopping trip, pulling the cart out of line. He then notified Hackett, who was naturally watching a basketball game at home.
This was a moment half a century in the making.
“I’m just glad they finally gave us our due,” Lee said.
Lee and Hackett developed and starred together for Syracuse from 197175, leading the program to its first-ever Final Four in their senior year. When the Orange face No. 16 North Carolina Saturday, Lee and Hackett will have their jerseys enshrined together, becoming the 18th and 19th players to earn the honor.
The matchup is fitting. The tandem’s most iconic moment came against the Tar Heels, pushing SU to its greatest heights and setting the stage for future success in the Jim Boeheim era.
Five decades later, Lee has still never seen film of what multiple teammates describe as the biggest shot in Syracuse history. Then a 32-team NCAA Tournament, the Orange defeated La Salle in Philadelphia to set up a Sweet 16 matchup with North Carolina in Providence.
SU center Earnie Seibert remembers the team watching TV the night before the game. A broadcaster said the winner of Boston College and Kansas State would take on the Tar Heels. Syracuse’s players felt disrespected by the comment but knew they were heavy underdogs.
Facing off with star guard Phil Ford and UNC, the Orange fought to the wire. Then, in a tie game with seconds to play, Hackett received the ball down low. The Tar Heels swarmed him. Hackett turned to four years of chemistry, kicking the ball out to an open Lee for the game-winner.
“I knew where Jim was gonna be,” Hackett said. “I caught him out of the corner of my eye, and I kicked it out to him exactly the way we did it when we were practicing up at the gym all the time.”
Syracuse took down Kansas State by eight points two days later to reach the Final Four in San Diego, catapulting a small school from central New York into the national spotlight.
“We were a different era, but we were the first ones to do some things that
Jim Lee and Rudy Hackett reset SU’s standard. They’ll be honored together.
B y Aiden Stepansky
senior staff writer
nobody else in Syracuse basketball history ever did,” Lee said.
Lee and Hackett’s four-year maturation through SU’s program to become senior captains is virtually impossible in modern college basketball. Given the pervasiveness of the transfer portal, players often earn one-year contracts.
Only J.J. Starling and Donnie Freeman returned to Syracuse this season, and no SU player has started a game in four consecutive years since Joseph Girard III from 2019-23.
Lee and Hackett first met as freshmen in 1971 at Manley Field House. In one of their first days on campus, Lee, Hackett, teammate Steve Shaw and a few others went to Thornden Park to play pickup and ran on Waverly Avenue for a workout.
Lee and Hackett had just met. But the bond was forming.
“We had a competitive fire in us that was comparable,” Hackett said. “We wanted to succeed, wanted to excel, wanted to play well and wanted to learn how to be the best at what we did. My basketball personality matched. We were out to prove that we could play at that level.”
However, the duo began playing basketball through different paths. Lee was born and raised in Kirkwood, New York, a town with a population under 5,000 in the 1960s.
He learned the fundamentals of the game through his older brother, Mike, and teamed up with him at SU after receiving a scholarship offer from head coach Roy Danforth. Decades later, Lee is the first to admit he wasn’t the greatest athlete compared to other players at the Division I level. Yet he knew his basketball IQ could help him control the game.
Hackett didn’t play basketball until he was 16 years old. Living in the New York City suburb of Mount Vernon, which had a population of over 70,000 in the 1960s, Hackett was thrown into a competitive environment he was forced to survive.
Hackett made the Mount Vernon squad with the help of star guard Gus Williams, and when Boeheim came to recruit him as SU’s assistant coach, Hackett knew Syracuse largely from its football pedigree. Boeheim saw the future. More importantly, he saw something in Hackett even the then-high schooler didn’t see.
“He said, ‘Rudy, with you, we think we could win the NCAA Championship,’” Hackett remembers Boeheim saying. “Well, any coach is going to tell a player that. But when I heard him say that, I thought he was half crazy.”
Lee remembers the moment he knew his class could win at the college level. Ahead of their freshman season in midOctober, the five freshmen scrimmaged the varsity team and lost by about 40 points. After a full season playing together, the two sides scrimmaged again in March to prepare the varsity team for the NIT. Lee said the rematch was far closer, proving the group was ready to compete.
Lee and Hackett lived separately as freshmen in Kimmel Hall but roomed together their next three years in Lawrinson Hall. Both built a connection as “quieter” guys, Lee said. Hackett had a stereo unit and played soul music. Lee still listens to some of the music Hackett was playing 50 years ago.
“When you live with somebody, it’s almost like they turn out to be your brother,” Lee said.
The routine was quite simple back then. After practice, the team rushed
back to campus to eat together before the dining hall closed at 6:30 p.m. Once they were done eating, many would retreat to their dormitories to rest up for the next day. Lee and Hackett often went to Archbold Gymnasium from about 8 to10 p.m. to get extra work in together.
Neither started on the varsity team until their junior year, and when the Orange hit a rut during their senior campaign, the routine helped them out of it. In February, fans stopped coming to games, and Seibert said some friends stopped talking to the players. Lee and Hackett steadied the ship, fixing their own struggles late at night at Archbold.
Syracuse then rattled off four straight wins to finish the regular season, steamrolled Niagara and St. Bonaventure in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Regional Tournament and won three NCAA Tournament contests.
Even as Syracuse’s 1974-75 team earned a 50th anniversary celebration last season, members of the team, including Lee and Hackett, recognize that the squad’s always been overlooked in SU history. The idea stretches to Lee and Hackett’s personal careers.
In recent decades, as Syracuse retired younger players’ numbers, Lee and Hackett came to terms with it, knowing the decision was out of their control.
Seibert, like others on the team, felt the individual recognition was long overdue. Shaw told The Daily Orange a year ago that it was “an oversight” by the university. To have the moment now makes the wait worth it.
“They were the guys we all looked up to,” Shaw said. “They poured their heart out for the team.”
Syracuse’s first Final Four team set the standard. Now, its stars will be etched in SU lore for eternity. amstepan@syr.edu @AidenStepansky
march 2, 2024
Syracuse notches first 20-win season since 2018-19
In its penultimate regular-season game, Syracuse downed Louisville 82-76 on the road to clinch its first 20-win season since the 2018-19 campaign.
The victory put the Orange fourth in the ACC with an 11-8 record in conference play.
Just under a month prior, SU was 5-6 against ACC foes, and Autry apologized to the university for getting crushed 99-70 by Wake Forest.
“It’s crazy how fast the tables can turn,” guard Quadir Copeland said after the game. “But I feel like we are a team that’s prepared for it.”
slow slide
B y Justin Girshon senior staff writer
jan. 4, 2024
J.J. Starling returns, Donnie Freeman plays final game of season
Even with Starling’s return to the lineup, SU fell to 0-3 in ACC play after its 90-74 loss to Florida State. While there was no indication at the time, the game marked five-star freshman Donnie Freeman’s last of the season.
Starling and Freeman, widely regarded as the Orange’s two best players, only played seven games together during the 2024-25 season.
march 13, 2024
Syracuse suffers 2nd round ACC Tournament loss
After SU lost its regular-season finale to Clemson, it earned the No. 7 seed in the ACC Tournament. While that earned the Orange a first-round bye, they were blown out 83-65 by NC State in the second round.
Syracuse entered Washington, D.C., looking to make a run and earn a March Madness bid.
“I think anytime you get a chance to make a postseason, I think you have to take it,” a dejected Autry said when asked whether his team would accept an invite to the NIT.
Syracuse fans swarmed the JMA Wireless Dome’s court in jubilation after the Orange upset No. 7 North Carolina on Feb. 13, 2024. It marked SU’s first win over an AP Top 10 opponent since 2019 and is the signature moment of head coach Adrian Autry’s three seasons at the helm.
march 12, 2025
Syracuse’s season ends in ACC Tournament
While the Orange defeated Florida State in the first round of the ACC Tournament, their season ended a day later in a 20-point loss to SMU. Syracuse’s 42.4% winning percentage was its worst since a 36.0% clip during the 1968-69 season.
“Dynamics changed. Different people had to step into different roles and step up,” Autry said postgame. “I’m not sure if they were kind of ready for that at that time, but we had to adjust.”
march 29, 2024
Gerry McNamara named Siena’s head coach
Following 15 seasons on Syracuse’s coaching staff, McNamara departed to become Siena’s head coach.
McNamara was promoted from assistant head coach to associate head coach after Autry replaced Boeheim, but he spent just one season in the position before leaving. The Orange hired Dan Engelstad to their coaching staff following McNamara’s departure.
march 17, 2024
Syracuse denies NIT bid after missing March Madness
After missing the NCAA Tournament field, SU denied its bid to the NIT despite Autry’s comments at the ACC Tournament.
A statement provided by the SU athletic department to syracuse.com said, “We respect the NIT but our only post-season goal was to play in the NCAA tournament. Therefore, we communicated to the ACC we would not participate in the NIT.
The Orange went on to finish the 2023-24 season with their most wins since the 2018-19 campaign, showing promise that the program was trending back toward the right direction following Jim Boeheim’s retirement. However, SU took a significant step back in Autry’s second
year, faltering to the program’s 1968-69. This season, while there ments, Syracuse is outside Tournament field in a year for Autry. With the
nov. 26, 2025
Without Donnie Freeman, SU goes 0-3 during Players Era Festival
Looking to win a fifth straight game to start the season, Freeman — who averaged a teamhigh 17.8 points — was ruled out hours before Syracuse tipped off the Players Era Festival. The Orange wound up going 0-3 in Las Vegas.
The biggest what-if of the Autry era might be Syracuse’s overtime loss to Houston, which then spiraled with defeats to Kansas and Iowa State.
“We walked away with three Quad 1 opportunities. You gotta have those,” Autry said after falling to ISU.
dec. 2, 2025
Syracuse notches 1st Quad 1 win in upset over No. 13 Tennessee
In what was as close to a “must-win” game as there is in early December, the Orange bounced back from three straight Quad 1 losses during the Players Era Festival by upsetting then-No. 13 Tennessee 62-60. It marked SU’s first Quad 1 win since Autry’s first season at the helm.
“Every win is important,” Autry said postgame. “But in particular, a win at home against a team like Tennessee was huge, because we were so close last week.”
june 28, 2024
dec. 21, 2024
nov. 15, 2024
Syracuse announces Alex Kline as GM Kiyan Anthony commits to Syracuse
SU hired Alex Kline as the program’s first general manager after working in the NBA for eight years as a scout. Kline didn’t help build Syracuse’s 2024-25 roster, but he — alongside Eugene Tulyagijja, who was hired as a data analyst — played an influential role in building the 2025-26 team.
program’s worst season since there have been improveoutside of the projected NCAA potential make-or-break Orange (15-12, 6-8 ACC)
To follow in his father’s footsteps, Kiyan Anthony announced his commitment to SU. Anthony became the fourth of the Orange’s five class of 2025 commits, with the unit ranking among the best in the country.
hosting No. 16 North Carolina (20-5, 8-4 ACC) on Saturday, they have another chance for a signature win to help keep their March Madness hopes alive.
Here’s a look at how Syracuse got here following its upset over the Tar Heels two years ago:
jan. 24, 2026
Syracuse players show displeasure with fan treatment after third straight loss
Following the loss to the Eagles, Syracuse extended its losing streak to three with losses against Virginia Tech and Miami. During the loss to the Hurricanes, there were audible “Fire Autry” chants echoing throughout the Dome.
“You got to respect the guy,” George said of Autry. “He’s trying his best. And of course, you’re gonna come up short, depending on what happens, but he’s just trying his best.”
feb. 7, 2026
SU suffers 6th loss in last 7 games in defeat to No. 18 Virginia after
Against the Cavaliers, SU suffered its sixth loss in its last seven games. Under Boeheim, the Orange never lost that many games within a seven-game stretch.
“The games we’ve played are great opportunities,” Autry said postgame. “We ask the same question every time. Obviously, these losses are difficult, and everyone’s frustrated.”
Adrian Autry declares loss to Maryland as worst of his tenure
Facing Maryland in the Barclays Center, Syracuse was embarrassed 87-60 to drop its record under .500. Autry declared it the worst loss of his tenure as head coach postgame.
“This is the worst,” he said. “This is the most disappointing loss that I’ve had since I’ve been here.”
feb. 11, 2026
Syracuse AD John Wildhack announces retirement
John Wildhack announced his retirement after 10 years as SU’s director of athletics. The move raises even more questions about what Autry’s future as the Orange’s head coach may look like.
feb. 16, 2026
Duke hands Syracuse its largest defeat of the Autry era
Though back-to-back wins over Cal and SMU gave the Orange a glimmer of hope, then-No. 3 Duke dominated them 101-64 in Cameron Indoor Stadium to snap their winning streak. The 37-point margin of defeat was the worst across Autry’s three years as head coach.
SU trailed 29-24 with three minutes left in the first half before getting outscored 73-40 the rest of the way.
inherited expectations
TAutry’s job performance this season struck a chord with SU women’s basketball coach Felisha Legette-Jack. She’s “never seen” the amount of pessimism that’s currently being spewed at Syracuse’s men’s program, she said on Feb. 8.
But, like it or not, that’s the treatment that comes with succeeding a legend.
Autry never received a clean set of expectations, a luxury most new head coaches typically have. Considering his Hall of Fame and NCAA Champion predecessor, Jim Boeheim, Orange fans expected immediate excellence in the transition from Boeheim’s 47-year run to his former assistant. Thus far, that hasn’t been the case.
“I played here. I understand the negativity, or I call it frustration, and (the fans) have a right to be frustrated,”
Autry said on Feb. 9’s ACC Coaches Call, responding to Legette-Jack’s comments. “I’m just putting my head down and trying to pour into these players, pour into this team, and trying to get us on the right track.”
Meeting Boeheim’s standard has proven tough for Autry, now in his third season as SU’s head coach. It’s a weight he shares with his next opposing coach, North Carolina’s Hubert Davis. Though he made an NCAA title game in his first year, the fifth-year Davis has occasionally received backlash — especially during the Tar Heels’ lackluster 2024-25 season — for not living up to Roy Williams’ standard.
The two former-players-turnedcoaches square off on the sidelines Saturday in the JMA Wireless Dome, with Syracuse (15-12, 6-8 Atlantic Coast) and No. 16 UNC (20-6, 10-4 ACC) in vastly different places. Autry and Davis are saddled with the burden of upholding their predecessors’ legacies — something they’re expected to do every game in front of their rabid fanbases.
This season, Autry is widely perceived to be coaching for his job. After taking over for Boeheim in 2023, Autry went 34-31 in his first two years and couldn’t qualify for an NCAA Tournament, prolonging the program’s overall drought to four seasons.
Now, with Syracuse sitting at 12th place in the ACC and No. 28 in the NET Rankings, it’s more than likely Autry will miss his third straight trip to March Madness — something that never happened under Boeheim.
Adrian Autry, Hubert Davis strive to meet legendary predecessors’ standard
B y Cooper Andrews senior staff writer
Davis, too, is a former disciple of a national-title winner: Williams. Davis served on UNC’s staff as an assistant from 2012-21, and stepped into Williams’ post following his retirement. He has experienced success much closer to Tar Heel coaches of the past, boasting a 121-51 (70.3%) record, making two Sweet 16s and a Final Four across five seasons.
In the past, Davis has credited his own coaching development to his efforts to emulate North Carolina Hall of Famers Williams and Dean Smith — who combined to win five national titles. Davis is known as an incredible relationshipbuilder and recruiter, skills he says he learned from those who preceded him.
“Without the relationship piece, I’m not doing this job the way that Coach Smith, Coach (Bill) Guthridge and Coach Williams did,” Davis told ACC Network in October.
But the UNC job demands making deep March Madness runs with consistency. Davis has gotten close, but he hasn’t reached the mountaintop yet. Until he does, there will be scrutiny.
After all, some extreme fans thought his job should have been on the line head-
mixed records
ing into North Carolina’s Feb. 7 game versus its arch nemesis Duke — which Davis’ Tar Heels won 71-68 on Seth Trimble’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
Much of that angst stems from last season. UNC was a top-10 team early on, but faded into a bubble team by the end of the season. Though the Tar Heels controversially salvaged an NCAA Tournament berth as a No. 11 seed, they lost to No. 6 seed Ole Miss in the First Round.
Last February, amid North Carolina’s slide, Williams loudly defended the state of the program under Davis and urged patience. He spoke directly to Davis’ detractors — or, as Williams described them to Inside Carolina, “all the idiots and the talk and the crap” — and said his former protege will lead UNC to greatness.
“I know there’s criticism out there,” Williams said amid intense disparagement being cast upon Davis’ performance at the time. “But (Davis) is the nicest person I have ever known in my life, who is also fiercely competitive. And that’s a hard combination to have. We’ve got the right guy.”
A year later, and the Tar Heels have made immense strides under Davis, who recruited star freshman forward Caleb Wilson as well as forward Henri Veesaar from the transfer portal and has reaped the benefits of its reloaded roster.
Meanwhile, Autry’s Syracuse was supposed to be doing the same this season. The Orange were coming off their most prolific offseason of the Autry era, securing top-flight recruits in Kiyan Anthony and Sadiq White Jr., as well as bolstering their team through the portal with William Kyle III, Nate Kingz and Tyler Betsey.
With those additions, alongside Donnie Freeman and J.J. Starling’s return, SU was primed for its best shot at a return to the Big Dance under Autry.
But instead, there’ve been many bumps and bruises in 2025-26. Syra-
cuse’s stout defense carried it to a nice start to nonconference play, then it got hit with a reality check in Las Vegas, going 0-3 in the Players Era Festival (which included a near-upset win over Houston). A massive Quad 1 win over Tennessee on Dec. 2, 2025, is his crowning achievement thus far.
Since then, though, SU has fallen back to the mediocrity it’s been mired in for half a decade. The Orange lost six of seven games from Jan. 17 to Feb. 7, another lowpoint that never occurred during Boeheim’s 47 years at the helm.
“I’m frustrated,” Autry said. “I expect us to be playing better. But, we’re here, we are where we’re at, and we just got to keep fighting.
“I think (Legette-Jack’s) comments were saying that negativity has never really made anything better, you know?”
The negativity concerning Syracuse couldn’t be more mainstream than it is right now. Take the Kiyan Anthony benching drama of a few weeks ago, for example, just another firestorm that’s clouded Autry’s third year.
Following Legette-Jack’s words, SU earned two of its biggest ACC wins, defeating Cal in double-overtime before shocking SMU with a 12-point comeback and a layup in the final seconds by Kingz. Despite a loss to No. 3 Duke that followed on Monday, Autry’s Orange can build on last week if they want to earn a major win over Davis’ Tar Heels Saturday.
After Syracuse gave North Carolina a major scare at the Dean E. Smith Center on Feb. 2, cutting a 32-point deficit to six in the final moments despite an eventual 87-77 loss, the UNC head coach made sure to give props to his fellow successorof-a-legend. He knows how hard it is.
“Syracuse is a great basketball team,” Davis said. “Adrian Autry is a fantastic coach.”
ccandrew@syr.edu @cooper_andrews
Adrian Autry and Hubert Davis haven’t lived up to the standards their predecessors set in their legendary coaching careers
opponent preview
B y Justin Girshon senior staff writer
Fresh off the worst loss of the Adrian Autry era, Syracuse will look for a bounce-back win Saturday when it hosts No. 16 North Carolina. The game will tip off at 1 p.m. and be nationally televised on ABC.
Before the 101-64 shellacking by the No. 3 Blue Devils, SU injected a small dose of life to its NCAA Tournament outlook with consecutive wins over California and SMU. Of course, that was preceded by the Orange losing six of their previous seven games — all but eliminating them from contention for an at-large March Madness bid.
With four games remaining, including three Quad 1 opportunities, Syracuse isn’t dead yet. But with a 1-7 record in Quad 1 games, a 3-3 record in Quad 2 games and Quad 3 losses to Hofstra and Boston College, SU will need to be nearly perfect down the stretch of the regular season and the ACC Tournament.
That would need to begin with a win over the Tar Heels, who could be without star freshman Caleb Wilson for a third straight game with a fractured left hand. Since beating SU in Chapel Hill, UNC has upset Duke and beaten Pittsburgh, but it fell to Miami and NC State.
Here’s everything to know before No. 16 North Carolina (20-6, 8-5 ACC) faces Syracuse (15-12, 6-8 ACC):
All-time series North Carolina leads 19-7.
Last time they played Syracuse’s 87-77 loss in Chapel Hill on Feb. 2 was deceiving. While the Orange only lost by 10, the game was essentially over by halftime, and they trailed by as many as 32 points midway through the second half.
Wilson and UNC center Henri Veesaar combined for 39 points and 20 rebounds, while Donnie Freeman led all scorers with 23 points. More notoriously, though, Carmelo Anthony commented “SMFH” on a SU men’s basketball post mid-game.
KenPom odds
Syracuse has a 38% chance of winning, with a projected score of 78-75.
The Tar Heel report
Even if Wilson doesn’t play Saturday, UNC is loaded with talent. Per EvanMiya’s Bayesian Performance Rating, Veesaar is the fourth-highest rated player in the ACC behind just Cameron Boozer, Patrick Ngongba and Wilson. Behind their stars, the Tar Heels have six quality role players in Jarin Stevenson, Seth Trimble, Luka Bogavac, Jonathan Powell, Kyan Evans and Derek Dixon.
Outside of Wilson and Veesaar, Trimble, a homegrown senior, is the biggest name. His 13.9 points per game place third on UNC, and he had the biggest moment of his career when he hit a game-winning 3-pointer to beat Duke.
While a triple was North Carolina’s highlight of the year, its dominance comes from inside the arc.
As was on display when UNC hosted Syracuse, its height and interior dominance — especially when Wilson and Veesaar are on the court together — stand out. Per KenPom, the Tar Heels’ 57% 2-point percentage ranks 40th in the nation and their 38.8 rebounds per game rank 4th in the ACC.
As good as North Carolina is offensively inside the arc, it’s even better on the defensive end. Opponents shoot just 45.2% on 2-pointers (11th-lowest nationally) and are pushed into long 2s, with an average shot distance of 7.4 feet from the basket — the 4th-longest mark in the country.
How Syracuse beats UNC
For the Orange to pull out a win, it’s more about them performing well than slowing North Carolina down. Against Duke, William Kyle III was arguably Syracuse’s only player who showed up. Freeman, who’s had his moments over the last few weeks, hasn’t looked the part of a future NBA Draft pick lately. Meanwhile, J.J. Starling, who SU built its team around alongside Freeman, is shooting 5-of-19 from the floor across the Orange’s last two games.
Recently, there’s been a lot more good than bad with Naithan George and Nate Kingz, but they both didn’t stand out on Monday in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
If Syracuse can get at least three of its five starters to click, it should have a fighting chance. Anything more, and a bonus from its bench, makes this a realistic game it could win.
Stat to know: 5-23
Over the last two seasons, Syracuse is 5-23
against teams ranked within KenPom’s top 80 teams. With the Tar Heels slotting in as KenPom’s No. 34 team, the Orange will look to improve that figure to a still extremely underwhelming 6-23.
All five of SU’s such wins are this year, coming against Tennessee, Florida State, Notre Dame, Cal and SMU. For comparison’s sake, the Orange beat eight top 80 KenPom teams in Autry’s first season at the helm, including the best win of his tenure against North Carolina.
Player to watch: Henri Veesaar, center, No. 13
After serving as a role player during Arizona’s runs to the Sweet 16 in 2024 and 2025, Veesaar entered the transfer portal. The center has started every game he’s played in thus far for UNC, averaging 16.4 points and 9.0 rebounds while shooting 61.5% from the field and an impressive 44.8% from 3-point range.
Like Wilson, though, Veesaar has missed the Tar Heels’ last two games. The junior was dealing with an injury in his lower extremities before coming down with the flu. Still, head coach Hubert Davis said Veesaar was “getting much better” Monday, even though he missed North Carolina’s game Tuesday against NC State.
justingirshon@gmail.com
@JustinGirshon
beat writer predictions
Whatever happens Saturday in the JMA Wireless Dome can’t get much worse than Syracuse’s display Monday night against Duke. The Orange were in a tight contest for much of the first half, but the No. 3 Blue Devils outclassed them in every facet from there. SU suffered a 101-64 loss, its largest Atlantic Coast Conference defeat since joining the league in 2013.
Fun fact. Syracuse is 1-6 in its seven games against Duke and North Carolina under Autry. OK, maybe not a fun fact.
The margin of defeat in Syracuse’s 101-64 loss to Duke Monday, its largest Atlantic Coast Conference loss since joining the league in 2013.
Four regular-season games remain for Adrian Autry’s Orange — who sit 70th in the NCAA NET Rankings — in need of a generational run to make March Madness. Though that possibility is highly unlikely, Syracuse can gain some ground this weekend against North Carolina. The Tar Heels, helmed by fifth-year head coach Hubert Davis, beat the Orange 87-77 on Feb. 2. However, UNC’s star freshman forward Caleb Wilson might not play Saturday due to injury.
Here’s how our beat writers predict Syracuse (15-12, 6-8 ACC) will fare against No. 16 North Carolina (20-6, 8-5 ACC) in their second headto-head matchup of the season: sports@dailyorange.com
While I very much see this game coming down to the wire and the Orange possibly pulling out a win, there’s a part of me that thinks it’s time to step back and look at the big picture. Yes, the Tar Heels are missing the star freshman, Wilson. But UNC recently beat Duke. Did SU look like it could beat Duke? By the transitive property, I’m going with North Carolina.
Bouncing back from a 37-point loss is no easy feat. Even with the Orange returning home, I see their offensive mental block remaining. Syracuse shot over 37% from 3, but it’s apparent it still doesn’t know what it’s doing. Rather than feeding a hot Nate Kingz, the Orange deferred away to give J.J. Starling and Donnie Freeman more shots. It hasn’t worked all year. Why will it work against the ACC’s best?
Syracuse could very much be leading this game at half or at least within five points. But just as Duke did at this time of year, the good teams distinguish themselves from the bad teams. North Carolina is a good team. SU simply isn’t.
I have no idea who’s going to win this game. On one hand, you’ve got a Syracuse team coming off its worst performance of the season that sent it back down to Earth after a two-game win streak. On the other, you’ve got UNC, a team that frankly can’t be viewed under the same lens without Wilson on the floor.
Autry’s boys have a solid chance of nabbing an upset victory to electrify the Dome Saturday, especially if Wilson can’t go. With four full days of rest in between the Duke game and this one, the Orange will be far more prepared for their opponent than they were for the wrath of playing in Cameron Indoor.
However, SU has shown repeatedly it struggles to win the big matchups; this is another one it’ll falter in. I think the (probably) Wilson-less Tar Heels will beat the Orange, and Syracuse will lose to two straight Tobacco Road teams in a week’s time.
If SU can limit UNC’s scoring in transition, be careful with the basketball and move it well — which Autry called out directly following its last game versus the Tar Heels — it can keep this one close. To win, the Orange must avoid giving up unanswered runs of double-digit points. But I see another “kill shot” destroying SU’s chance at shocking North Carolina. Get your brooms out, because the Tar Heels will sweep the Orange.
As Autry said after the Orange beat Cal, which featured two overtimes and a power outage delay, it was “just another day in the ACC.” North Carolina dominated Syracuse in Chapel Hill and upset Duke — a Blue Devils team that just handed the Orange their worst loss under Autry. The Tar Heels should cruise when they visit the JMA Wireless Dome.
But Saturday will be “just another day in the ACC,” and Syracuse will get a much-needed Quad 1 win. Regardless of whether Wilson plays or not — which, if he does, he’ll be playing with a cast on — the Orange should be able to keep this game within a few possessions.
In the event Wilson doesn’t play, EvanMiya’s algorithm assigns a -6.97-point injury adjustment for UNC missing its star freshman. Because this is a home game for SU, the point spread would likely be around 4-6 points even if Wilson were playing. If Wilson’s out, that can prove to be the difference from a narrow SU loss to a narrow SU win.
Yes, it’s hard to believe in the Orange after what occurred in Cameron Indoor Stadium Monday night. But college basketball is unpredictable, and Syracuse will show why when it defends its home court.
