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Donnie Freeman pulled off his jersey and kept his head down as he walked through the tunnel leading into Syracuse’s locker room. The star forward was just disqualified from the game after picking up his second technical foul and fifth personal foul.

But at that point, it didn’t matter. Freeman’s teammates joined him in the locker room nearly two minutes of game time later, after another loss.

Even with freshman phenom Caleb Wilson sidelined with a left hand fracture, No. 16 North Carolina (21-6, 9-5 Atlantic Coast) defeated Syracuse 77-64 (15-13, 6-9 ACC) Saturday.

Without Wilson, a projected top pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, the Tar Heels improved their Quad 1 record to 6-6 as they try to lock down an NCAA Tournament berth. And while at essentially full strength, the Orange sank to 1-8 in Quad 1 games, showcasing their inconsistencies in what’s likely to be a fifth consecutive season missing March Madness.

Postgame, SU head coach Adrian Autry said keeping UNC in the 70s points-wise typically gives opposing teams a “really good chance of winning.” Syracuse accomplished that, possibly helped by the absence of Wilson’s 19.8 points per game. But there was one problem: nobody besides J.J. Starling — who finished with a game-high 22 points — stepped up offensively for the Orange, which included shooting 3-of-17 from 3-point range.

“Today’s game came down to the second half. Our inability to generate any type of offense, I thought that was the difference,” Autry said. “I thought our defense was good enough — the offense just couldn’t get anything going.”

With Wilson sidelined, Freeman entered Saturday averaging the most points per game among all players. But he tallied just nine points, all of which came in the second half, across 28 minutes before getting ejected.

Freeman’s early struggles were the exact opposite of what occurred in Chapel Hill nearly three weeks ago. In SU’s 87-77 loss, Freeman scored 18 of his 23 points across the first 20 minutes.

UNC forward Caleb Wilson (right) missed his third consecutive game with a left hand injury. Still, even without the projected top-5 NBA Draft pick, the Tar Heels bested Syracuse. Zoe Xixis | Asst. Photo Editor

To slow Freeman down in the early going, UNC frequently switched to a smaller defender to match up against him. Once the Orange would get the ball to Freeman, often in the post or mid-range, the Tar Heels would send a second defender to double-team him.

It led to just three first-half field goal attempts, and even though North Carolina didn’t show Freeman that look as frequently in the second half, head coach Hubert Davis thought it was effective throughout the game.

“When (Freeman) catches the ball a little bit off the block, it’s pretty much a score,” Davis said. “And so that (defensive strategy) was one of the ways that we wanted to take that away from him.”

As Freeman, Nate Kingz and Naithan George struggled — combining for 20 points on 7-of-25 shooting — Autry said it’s hard for Syracuse to generate offense from beyond the arc. Though Starling stepped up with 22 points, he attempted one 3-pointer. Tyler Betsey, who finished as SU’s second leading scorer with 10 points, made all three of the Orange’s triples — two of which came when North Carolina led by double digits in the final few minutes.

Meanwhile, with Wilson — who scored 22 points in SU and UNC’s first matchup — out for a third straight game, Kingz said the Orange changed up some of their defensive schemes. That included their approach to on-ball screens, switching 1-through-4 and taking hard steps to contain Henri Veesaar down low. The center led the Tar Heels with 19 points after missing their previous two games.

Kingz feels North Carolina adjusted to Syracuse’s changes “pretty well.” As Kingz struggled, tying a season-low with four points, he also felt he had a poor defensive game. Davis credited UNC’s big men for getting Kingz, who played just 20 minutes and picked up four fouls, in foul trouble for running in transition.

Despite a poor offensive outing, the Orange stayed within a few possessions for the first 28 minutes of the game. After William Kyle III registered a steal and fast break dunk, SU tied the score 44-44 with 12:07 remaining.

However, from there, North Carolina embarked on an 8-0 run over the next two minutes, preventing Syracuse from taking its first lead since holding a 14-12 advantage in the first half. Davis credited senior Seth Trimble’s defensive intensity and ability to get downhill offensively for sparking the run.

One of the game’s turning points was when Trimble picked Starling’s pocket before throwing down a transition dunk, which gave UNC a 48-44 lead. SU never recovered from that point, leading to its seventh double-digit loss this season and dropping it to 4-24 in Quad 1 games across Autry’s three seasons at the helm.

“The result was the result,” Kyle said. “So we got to keep fighting, come to practice and just keep fighting for these last couple games of the year.”

For Syracuse to play any meaningful games in March, it’ll need to step up and finish the regular season strong before going on a run in the ACC Tournament. It’s possible, and it’s been done before.

But losing a Quad 1 game on their home floor with the opposing team’s best player hurt doesn’t inject any confidence that the Orange can do so.

Published on February 21, 2026 at 6:03 pm
Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon