Henri Veesaar scored 19 points in his return to the lineup, as No. 16 North Carolina notched a 77-64 road win over Syracuse on Saturday.
North Carolina (21-6, 9-5 ACC) improved to 2-1 since star freshman Caleb Wilson fractured his hand. The team’s first two games without Wilson coincided with a two-game absence by Veesaar (lower-body injury and illness), but the center returned in this one to shoot 9 of 13 from the field to go with three blocks.
Luka Bogavac and Seth Trimble added 13 points apiece for the Tar Heels, who overcame a 15-of-28 effort from the foul line to sweep the season series with the Orange.
Syracuse (15-13, 6-9) had only two double-digit scorers — JJ Starling with 22 points and Tyler Betsey with 10. Donnie Freeman added nine points, seven rebounds, and three blocks for the Orange before getting ejected late in the contest.
Syracuse trailed by five points at halftime but quickly caught up at 36-36 just 2 1/2 minutes into the second half.
The score was tied again — this time at 44-44 — when the Tar Heels unleashed an 8-0 run to create some breathing room.
Zayden High’s layup began the burst before Trimble scored on back-to-back trips. Veesaar capped the surge with a driving, one-handed slam to make it 52-44.
High’s 3-pointer extended the visitors’ lead to 59-48 with 7:21 remaining. Veesaar and Trimble took turns scoring down the stretch as North Carolina cruised to the finish line.
The teams had nearly identical field-goal percentages in the first half, as Syracuse was 12 of 29 from the floor while North Carolina was 12 of 28. The difference was 3-point shooting with the Orange struggling to 1 of 8 from outside the arc, compared to 5 of 11 for the Tar Heels.
With the game tied at 14-14 midway through the half, Jonathan Powell knocked down a 3-pointer to give North Carolina the lead for good. Shortly thereafter, Veesaar and Kyan Evans made 3-pointers on back-to-back trips to put the Tar Heels up 25-20.
North Carolina made only two buckets in the final seven minutes of the half. However, Syracuse wasn’t able to chip away much, as the Orange went into the locker room trailing 35-28.
