At halftime in Chapel Hill, the No. 5 North Carolina men's basketball team trails Syracuse, 46-43.
The Orange came out hot, sinking six of their first seven shots to take an early 15-6 lead. That opening stretch was led by Elijah Hughes, who sank his first two 3-point attempts to help his team jump ahead. UNC would answer, however, with a pair of Luke Maye free throws, then back-to-back threes by first-year Coby White and graduate Cameron Johnson to bring the score to 15-14 before a Syracuse timeout.
The two teams would then quickly settle into a back and forth affair; at the 11:49 mark, Syracuse held a narrow 21-20 lead, then a 28-27 lead at the under-8 minute timeout. It wasn't until the end of the half that the Orange began pulling away with a bevy of shots from deep. They would finish 8-17 from 3-point range in the first period, while limiting UNC to just 4-15 beyond the arc. The Tar Heels were able to cut the deficit to three just before the half, however.
First-half highlights for UNC included a wraparound pass by Kenny Williams for a Maye layup, an exclamatory chase-down block by first-year Nassir Little, and a strong and-1 finish through contact by White near halftime.
White paced the Tar Heels with 15 points on 3-6 shooting in the first half. Johnson posted nine points in the opening 20 minutes, while Maye recorded seven and Little recorded five.
