Roy Williams earns 800th win as UNC men's basketball fends off Syracuse

In a rematch of last season’s Final Four, the North Carolina men’s basketball team beat Syracuse, 85-68, on Monday night to deliver head coach Roy Williams his 800th win. He is the fastest coach in NCAA history to reach 800 wins in terms of seasons coached, doing so in his 29th.

For reference, former UNC coach Dean Smith and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski reached the same milestone in their 33rd seasons.

What happened?

The No. 9 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 three minutes of the game set the tone for the rest of the night, as UNC grabbed seemingly every rebound.

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 and proficient shooting from behind the arc buoyed the Orange’s offense, which stagnated at times.

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

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

Who stood out?

For Syracuse, Lydon was everything. He shot 11-for-14 and consistently stifled UNC’s momentum with timely buckets. With such a short rotation — only six Orange players played more than one minute — 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, when big men led the way. Hicks finished with 20 points for the second consecutive game, the first time he’s ever done so in his career. Meanwhile, Jackson’s combination of shooting from deep and aggressive drives to the basket helped mitigate Lydon’s offensive explosion.

When was it decided?

UNC led for the entire game, but it wasn’t able to put Syracuse away for good until time was winding down in the second half.

With 3:36 to play, Jackson got the ball on a breakaway with only Lydon and 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 whistled for a foul on Battle as Jackson threw up a spinning underhand layup.

The ball danced around the rim for a few seconds, but it eventually dropped through. Jackson drained the ensuing free throw to make it 79-64, all but clinching the win for UNC.

Why does it matter?

With just two days rest after a top-15 matchup against 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 and never looked in danger of losing.

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, and the team showed a new willingness to play through the paint.

When Bradley returns to the lineup, it will only beef up a front line that looks to be the offensive cornerstone of the team.

When do they play next?

The Tar Heels have almost a week off before their next game, a road trip to Boston College on Saturday at 12 p.m.

@BrendanRMarks

sports@dailytarheel.com