SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- No. 6 North Carolina overcame the return of coach Jim Boeheim, the largest crowd of the college basketball season and sizzling 3-point shooting from guard Trevor Cooney to upend Syracuse 84-73 on Saturday night in an Atlantic Coast Conference game before 26,811 at the Carrier Dome.

The Tar Heels (15-2, 4-0 ACC) closed the game on a 34-17 run as they conquered Syracuse's 2-3 zone defense and exploited the Orange's smaller frontcourt. Forwards Isaiah Hicks and Justin Jackson each scored 10 points in the closing run as North Carolina executed the high-low offense to perfection.

"Coach (Roy Williams) was stressing about it because the first half we were just moving, we weren't calling for the ball and being aggressive," Hicks said. "The second half is the way he wanted us to play the whole time. It just took us a while to get to it."

Hicks had a team-high 21 points and eight rebounds, Jackson and forward Brice Johnson each scored 16 points and guard Joel Berry II added 14 points for North Carolina.

Cooney, who was 5 of 12 from 3-point range, led all scorers with 27 points and guard Malachi Richardson had 16 for Syracuse (10-7, 0-4).

Boeheim returned to the bench after missing nine games as he served an NCAA suspension. He received a standing ovation from Syracuse fans when he walked onto the court before the game.

"Same as always," Boeheim said when asked about his emotions. "It was great, great fans, great atmosphere. I've coached 1,200 games -- no, I've only coached 1,100, sorry, forgot that -- but it's not something new."

Boeheim was referring to the 101 wins that the NCAA has removed from his record because of violations against his program.

The Orange, who went 4-5 in Boeheim's absence, haven't started 0-4 in conference play since the 1996-97 Big East season. North Carolina has never been 4-0 in the ACC under Williams until now.

"We knew how desperately they needed this game, but we tried to flip that to our advantage and say we desperately wanted to become 4-0 and stay on top of the league," Tar Heels guard Marcus Paige said.

Paige, the ACC's leading active scorer, scored only three points (13 below his season average) but contributed eight assists and six rebounds.

"If you had told me that (Paige would have only three points) before the game, I would have told you we'd have no chance of winning," Williams said. "But he realized he wasn't shooting well and had eight assists. He was our best defensive player."

While Cooney and Richardson combined to go 9 of 22 from 3-point range, North Carolina and Paige limited Michael Gbinije, Syracuse's leading scorer, to 10 points on 3-of-13 shooting from the field.

"I was able to get to the basket at times early in the first half and I got some good shots. They just didn't fall tonight," said Gbinije, who was averaging 18.0 points per game.

The Orange used an 18-6 run to turn a six-point deficit into a 56-50 lead with about nine minutes left in the game. Cooney capped the spurt with a 3-pointer, his fifth of the game.

But Hicks' two free throws and Berry's 3-pointer moved the Tar Heels ahead 62-58, and North Carolina continued to punish Syracuse on the baseline and in the paint. The Tar Heels held a 46-26 advantage in the paint.

"It was a very poor defensive effort in the last six, seven minutes of the game and there's just no excuse for that," Boeheim said. "We've got to get this thing fixed and we're going to try."

Trailing 18-15, the Tar Heels used their frontcourt advantage to go on a 10-0 run that gave them a 27-20 first-half lead. The Orange answered the Tar Heels' run with an 8-0 spurt highlighted by 3-pointers by Cooney and Richardson.

Cooney and Richardson each were 3 of 6 from beyond the arc in the first half and combined for 22 of Syracuse's 33 points.

The half ended with Johnson stealing the ball from Gbinije and making a layup as the clock expired to knot the score at 33. Johnson and center Kennedy Meeks each scored eight points in the first half for the Tar Heels.

Meeks returned after missing the last seven games with a left knee injury. He had eight points and two rebounds in 14 minutes.

NOTES: The last time the Tar Heels had a better conference start was in 2000-01 (11-0 under coach Matt Doherty). ... Entering Saturday's games, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim ranked second on the Division I wins list with 972 and Williams was 11th with 764. The NCAA removed 101 wins from Boeheim's ledger, a penalty that he has appealed. ... North Carolina G Marcus Paige is the ACC's active career scoring leader (1,582 points) and assist leader (519) -- the only current player in the top five of both categories.