North Carolina does not have long to dwell on its latest setback.
Just days after a historically embarrassing loss to NC State, the Tar Heels (20-6, 8-5 ACC) head north to face Syracuse in another conference test. UNC visits the Orange (15-12, 6-8 ACC) for a 1 p.m. tipoff Saturday, returning to the court against an opponent it already handled 87-77 on Feb. 2 in Chapel Hill — though this time, the personnel picture has changed.
The Tar Heels will be without standout freshman Caleb Wilson, sidelined indefinitely after breaking his hand. Seven-foot center Henri Veesaar is also expected to sit again, still listed as day-to-day. Combined with other frontcourt injuries, those absences leave UNC with only two regular contributors in the post.
The Orange are looking to bounce back from a 101-64 home drubbing by Duke on Monday, a blowout that abruptly ended their two-game winning streak. But playing at the JMA Wireless Dome is not a walk in the park.
Here are three keys to victory for Carolina.
Keep the crowd at bay
Syracuse plays at the JMA Wireless Dome, which also serves as its football stadium and is the largest on-campus basketball arena in the nation, with a capacity of 35,642. Both teams will likely play in front of a sold-out crowd, but most of the fans will be cheering for the Orange, not the Tar Heels.
Playing against a team with more than 35,000 fans in attendance will be difficult, so the Tar Heels must do whatever they can to quiet the crowd — in layman’s terms, take control of the game.
More efficient three-point shooting
The Tar Heels must hit their 3-point shots. In their latest game, UNC made only five of its 33 3-point attempts.
Since Seth Trimble hit a game-winning 3-pointer to beat Duke, the Tar Heels are 22-for-85 from 3, a dismal 25.9%. Before this stretch, the Tar Heels were in the top five in the ACC in 3-point percentage in conference play, shooting 37.1%.
That’s bad. If there were any game to flip the script, it would be this one.
The backcourt must step up
The Tar Heels’ backcourt combined to shoot 11-for-43 from the field against NC State, which is nearly 25%. Trimble, who has been Carolina’s most reliable player in its backcourt, scored just four points and went 1-for-9 from the field.
Somebody has to step up and be a difference-maker, with Veesaar’s status still in question and Wilson being out for a considerable amount of time.
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Basketball: Three keys for Tar Heels to avoid third straight road loss