SYRACUSE, NY — Judah Mintz scored 25 points, including 16 in the second half, and JJ Starling scored 13 of his 23 points in the second half as Syracuse stunned No. 7 North Carolina 86-79 on Tuesday night.
The raucous home crowd rushed the court to celebrate the program's first win over a Top 10 team since a 95-91 overtime victory over Duke in 2019. Syracuse entered Tuesday's game having lost 16 straight games against the Top 10 top AP teams, with an average margin of defeat of just under 16 points, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
The Orange shot 63% from the field and 47% from 3. The loss was North Carolina's third in five games.
“This game, obviously, was the best we've played all year,” first-year Syracuse coach Adrian Autry said. “Judah and JJ really took a big step forward, but everyone who came on the court contributed to the victory.”
North Carolina (19-6, 11-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) missed its first 10 shots of the second half and fell behind 52-43, but rallied to take a 65-64 lead on RJ's layup Davis with 7:16 left. . But the Orange (16-9, 7-7), which suffered a 103-67 loss in Chapel Hill last month, couldn't be denied.
“We showed that we have heart,” Mintz said. “I think we've been showing that all year.”
“We wouldn't have won if we didn't think we could win it,” he added. “We're a confident group no matter how the odds are against us. It's great to get the win for the program.”
Starling hit a desperation three-point shot to regain the Orange lead at 67-65 with less than seven minutes remaining. Mintz hit a layup, a jumper and two free throws to give the Orange a 73-67 margin, and Starling scored another three to give Syracuse a 76-69 lead after a Harrison Ingram jumper with minus three to play.
“This is definitely a big moment,” said Starling, a native of nearby Baldwinsville. “We needed it… A game against them showed that it wasn't us. This showed what we are capable of.”
Maliq Brown had 14 points and six rebounds for Syracuse in Tuesday's game, while Chris Bell contributed 13.
Davis led North Carolina with 19 points. Cormac Ryan had 18 and Armando Bacot and Harrison Ingram each had 14.
“We didn't play well enough to win, we just have to get better. They shot 63% from the field. Very few teams in the country can be beat, especially on the road, when they shoot that well,” said the Carolina coach from North. Hubert Davis said. “Syracuse needs to be congratulated. They stepped up and made big plays and big shots.
“At the end of the day, you just have to step up and make plays, we just didn't do it, we didn't do enough. We'll go back and look at the tape and work hard, get better and move on to the next game.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
