Syracuse stuns No. 7 North Carolina behind Mintz's, Starling's strong 2nd half

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Judah Mintz scored 25 points, including 16 in the second half, and JJ Starling had 13 of his 23 points in the second half as Syracuse stunned No. 7 North Carolina 86-79 on Tuesday night.

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 and took a 65-64 lead on a layup by RJ Davis with 7:16 to go. But the Orange (16-9, 7-7), which suffered a 103-67 loss at Chapel Hill last month, was not to be denied.

Starling hit a desperation 3-point bank shot to reclaim the Orange lead at 67-65 with under seven minutes to go. Mintz hit a layup, jumper and two foul shots to give the Orange a 73-67 margin, and Starling hit another 3 to give Syracuse a 76-69 lead following a Harrison Ingram jumper with under three to go.

Syracuse hit foul shots down the stretch for the winning margin.

Maliq Brown had 14 points and six rebounds for Syracuse and Chris Bell chipped in with 13.

Davis led North Carolina with 19 points. Cormac Ryan had 18, and Armando Bacot and Harrison Ingram had 14 apiece.

BIG PICTURE

North Carolina: It was the Tar Heels' second loss in three games. North Carolina will have to clean up its defense.

Syracuse: This was the win Syracuse was looking for and gives the team momentum heading down the stretch.

UP NEXT:

North Carolina: Host Virginia Tech on Saturday.

Syracuse: Visit Georgia Tech on Saturday.

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