Garrison Brooks posted 26 points, Cole Anthony added 25 points and North Carolina used a sudden burst of 3-point shooting in a 92-79 road victory against Syracuse on Saturday at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y.
Christian Keeling chipped in 18 points off the bench. Brooks also had 13 rebounds for the last-place Tar Heels (12-17, 5-13 Atlantic Coast Conference), who hadn't won in February until Tuesday night.
North Carolina, which made less than 25 percent of its 3-point attempts entering the game, finished 11-for-26 from long range. Overall, North Carolina shot 51.6 percent from the field.
Buddy Boeheim paced Syracuse (16-13, 9-9) with 22 points in the team's home finale. Elijah Hughes notched 19 points and Bourama Sidibe had 17 points. Hughes entered the game with an ACC-leading 18.8 points per game.
The Tar Heels, who've won two straight after a seven-game losing skid, had the offense cranked up so much that they scored 24 points in the first six minutes of the second half for a 61-48 lead.
North Carolina was 15-for-17 on free throws. The Tar Heels had a 39-29 rebounding edge.
North Carolina led 40-35 at halftime, boosted by 14 points from reserves. The Tar Heels were 2-for-11 on first-half 3-point attempts, then made six of their first seven early in the second half.
The six 3s tied the most in a half for North Carolina this season. The Tar Heels ended with nine 3s in the half.
Syracuse shot 6-for-24 on 3s for the game.
North Carolina played most of the second half without forward Armando Bacot, who exited with an ankle injury.
Boeheim was in the starting lineup after there were concerns because he left Wednesday night's game at Pittsburgh with an ankle injury.
North Carolina has won the last nine meetings with Syracuse. The Tar Heels are 4-1 against the Orange in the Carrier Dome.
--Field Level Media
North Carolina | Syracuse | |
Garrison Brooks 26 | Scoring | Buddy Boeheim 22 |
Cole Anthony 7 | Assists | Buddy Boeheim 3 |
Garrison Brooks 14 | Rebounds | Bourama Sidibe 15 |
Garrison Brooks 8 | Free Throws Made | Elijah Hughes 7 |
Cole Anthony 2 | Steals | Buddy Boeheim 1 |
Garrison Brooks 2 | Blocks | Bourama Sidibe 6 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
North Carolina | 92 | 51.6 | 11-26 | 15-17 | 25 | 37 | 6 | 4 | 10 |
Syracuse | 79 | 44.4 | 6-24 | 17-19 | 14 | 26 | 7 | 4 | 9 |