The North Carolina Tar Heels will have a tough test on Saturday night as they take on the Syracuse Orangemen in an ACC battle. North Carolina comes into the game at 14-2 (3-0) and ranked sixth in the nation while Syracuse comes in at 10-6 (0-3) and unranked.
North Carolina lost a hearbreaking game at Texas towards the end of non-conference play but since that game they have played great as they have won seven in a row including their first three ACC games. UNC's last game was a high scoring affair against Florida State that they were able to pull out by scoring an astounding 106 points, so they are coming in with some big time momentum.
The player to watch for the Tar Heels is senior forward Brice Johnson who has recently thrown his hat in the ring for Player of the Year honors. Johnson leads the team with his 16.8 points and 10.6 rebounds per game and is coming off a monster performance against Florida State as he had 39 points and 23 rebounds.
Good news for North Carolina in this one as starting center Kennedy Meeks is expected to return after missing the last seven games with a bruised left knee. In nine games Meeks is averaging 12.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and a team leading 1.3 blocks per game. In Meeks' absence Johnson really stepped forward and asserted himself so it will be interesting to see if Meeks' return will have any effect on him.
While UNC comes into this game on fire, Syracuse comes in ice cold. The Orangemen have lost six of their last 10 including their first three games in ACC play. Syracuse has had to play their last nine games without head coach Jim Boeheim and in that stretch they went 4-5. Boeheim will return to the sidelines on Saturday night and the Orange are hoping he will spark his team, which started out 6-0 and was ranked in the top 25.
On the court the player to watch for Cuse is senior guard Michael Gbinije who leads the team in points (18), assists (4.7) and steals per game (2.4). Gbinije started off 7-26 with 12 turnovers in his first two ACC contests this season but recovered in the Orange's overtime loss against Clemson as he scored 22 points and made four three pointers. On the season the senior is making 40 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc.
Another player to watch for Syracuse is freshman guard Malachi Richardson who started off the season slow but has picked his play up of late. Richardson is averaging 13 points and 4.9 rebounds through 16 games but he has scored at least 20 in his last two contests and appears to be finding his groove. In the overtime loss to Clemson Richardson had his best game in college as he scored a career high 21 points and grabbed a career high nine rebounds.
Last season North Carolina beat Syracuse in their only meeting which was played in Chapel Hill when Marcus Paige scored 22 points to lead the Tar Heels. This season UNC comes in as big favorites again but Syracuse should get some sort of lift from the return of Boeheim so it should be a great environment and a great game.
The game is scheduled to tip off at 8 P.M. Eastern time on ESPN and to watch the live broadcast go here. For the North Carolina radio broadcast go here and for the Syracuse radio broadcast go here.