Johnson, No. 8 North Carolina hold off Syracuse 75-70

UNC led by just a point near the 2-minute mark, but Isaiah Hicks and Johnson came up with big baskets to help the Tar Heels stay in control.
AP,

North Carolina's Brice Johnson blocks a shot by Syracuse's Tyler Roberson during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Chapel Hill, N.C., Monday, Feb. 29, 2016. (Robert Willett/The News & Observer via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

North Carolina’s Brice Johnson blocks a shot by Syracuse’s Tyler Roberson during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Chapel Hill, N.C., Monday, Feb. 29, 2016. (Robert Willett/The News & Observer via AP) 

 

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Brice Johnson had 14 points and 10 rebounds to help No. 8 North Carolina beat Syracuse 75-70 on Monday night in its home finale.

Joel Berry II added 13 points and two key late free throws for the Tar Heels (24-6, 13-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), who led by as many as 13 points after halftime but had plenty of trouble putting the game away against Syracuse’s zone.

UNC led by just a point near the 2-minute mark, but Isaiah Hicks and Johnson came up with big baskets to help the Tar Heels stay in control. Berry’s two free throws with 6.6 seconds left made it a two-possession game, helping UNC hang on to first place in the ACC.

Michael Gbinije scored 17 points to lead the Orange (19-11, 9-8), who shot 41 percent and made 5 of 20 3-point tries.

The Tar Heels were coming off a weekend loss at Virginia as part of a 4-4 stretch against a backloaded February schedule. But they still entered the week tied with No. 7 Miami atop the league, and can claim at least a share of the regular-season crown and the No. 1 seed in next week’s ACC Tournament by beating rival Duke on Saturday.

The Tar Heels didn’t attack the Orange’s zone with the same efficiency as in a January road win, shooting 41 percent while firing 25 shots from behind the arc despite being one of the ACC’s worst in 3-point shooting percentage.

But Johnson came up with several big plays during a critical sequence that saw the Orange get within three points with 7 minutes left, then helped the Tar Heels turn away one more burst from Syracuse that set up a suddenly tense finish.

Gbinije hit a huge 3 to close the gap to 69-68 with 2:23 left, but he missed a drive in the final seconds with Syracuse down three to set up Berry’s late free throws in what amounted to the Orange’s last gasp.

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TIP-INS

Syracuse: Cooney finished with 14 points. … Gbinije had seven assists and seven turnovers. … Syracuse finished with 15 turnovers that UNC converted into 14 points. … Syracuse made 19 of 23 free throws.

UNC: Kennedy Meeks had 10 points including some big second-half baskets when Johnson and Hicks got in foul trouble. … Marcus Paige finished with eight assists. … UNC had a 40-34 rebounding advantage, including 19-12 on the offensive glass.

UP NEXT

Syracuse closes the regular season at Florida State on Saturday.

UNC travels to No. 17 Duke in Saturday’s regular-season finale.