No. 9 Syracuse (8-3, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) defeated No. 18 North Carolina (7-5, 1-2), 12-9, in the Orange’s ACC finale. The Tar Heels began with physical play but couldn’t string together enough offense to stave off the Orange attack as Syracuse took advantage of North Carolina’s futility.

Here are three takeaways from the game.

Star at the X

Danny Varello did not start off his season as the Orange’s top faceoff contributor well. A strong showing from Jakob Phaup was enough to unseat him as the top faceoff specialist on SU, and Phaup soared to near the top of the country’s faceoff percentage leaderboards. But Varello’s defining skill is something Phaup admits he doesn’t have: speed off the whistle.

Against North Carolina’s faceoff unit that ranked 37th in the country prior to Saturday, Varello was the first to the ball almost every time. Varello finished the game 13-of-18 on his attempts at the X. He battled to push balls loose for ground balls, but more often than not scooped it himself.

During the course of Syracuse’s 10-1 run, Varello was the main contributor at the X the entire time. He constantly won possession for SU right away and pushed the ball ahead once he gained possession.

Running away with it

At one point early in the second quarter, Syracuse trailed 6-2. The Orange were sloppy with the ball and couldn’t string together multiple possessions. But then Syracuse scored four in a row, then six in a row. Before the Tar Heels scored their first goal in 26 minutes with 6:50 remaining in the final quarter, the Orange went on a 10-1 run to establish a comfortable lead.

Being outshot 15-11 in the first quarter, Syracuse outpaced the Tar Heels 11-6 in the second quarter, 12-5 in the third quarter and only trailed 6-8 on attempts in the final quarter of the game. Syracuse slowed its offense down, played to the shot clock and made the most of its opportunities with the ball.

ACC boost

Prior to the game, Syracuse sat at fourth in the ACC standings. With a simultaneous game played between conference rivals Duke and Virginia, the Orange’s win could’ve potentially solidified a first-round bye in the ACC tournament.

Prior to Saturday, all four teams below conference-leader Virginia only had one conference win and, after North Carolina’s loss, the Orange achieved the highest conference win total for a team below the Cavaliers. Pending the outcome of Duke’s bout with Virginia, the Orange could avoid a tiebreaker scenario with a Blue Devils loss and secure a bid to a Saturday start to the tournament.

Published on April 13, 2019 at 5:53 pm

Contact Michael: mmcclear@syr.edu | @MikeJMcCleary