CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) Caleb Wilson had 22 points and nine rebounds as No. 14 North Carolina Tar Heels held off Syracuse Orange 87-77 on Monday night after building a 32-point lead midway through the second half.
Syracuse shaved the deficit to six with 42 seconds remaining before the Tar Heels finally closed it out from the free-throw line.
Henri Veesaar added 17 points and 11 boards for his Atlantic Coast Conference-leading 12th double-double. Jonathan Powell scored 12 points and Luka Bogavac had 10 for the Tar Heels (18-4, 6-3), who will carry a four-game winning streak into Saturday’s showdown with No. 4 Duke in Chapel Hill.
Wilson went 6 of 14 from the field and reached 20 points for the 16th time, most by a UNC freshman.
Donnie Freeman finished with 23 points and eight rebounds to lead Syracuse (13-10, 4-6), which lost for the fifth time in six games. Naithan George added 15 points.
The Tar Heels led 72-40 with 9:40 left before Syracuse made it respectable late with an 11-1 run.
Back-to-back 3s by Veesaar and Powell gave UNC its first-double digit lead at 23-12. Syracuse hit seven straight shots to get back within five, but the Tar Heels answered with a 12-0 spurt to open a 46-32 advantage at halftime.
Eighteen of Freeman’s points came in that first half, when the Orange shot 44% but committed nine turnovers.
Syracuse visits No. 18 Virginia on Saturday.
North Carolina hosts No. 4 Duke on Saturday.
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| TOP SCORERS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
 |
D. Freeman F | 23PTS | 8REB | 0AST | |
|
8
 |
C. Wilson F | 22PTS | 9REB | 1AST | |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| D. Freeman | 23 | 8 | 0 | 2 |
| N. George | 15 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| J. Starling | 13 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| N. Kingz | 8 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
| W. Kyle | 2 | 6 | 0 | 5 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| K. Anthony | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| I. Souare | 6 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| T. Betsey | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| S. White Jr. | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| B. Zephir | – | – | – | – |
| N. Lobdell | – | – | – | – |
| L. Fennell | – | – | – | – |
| A. Womack | – | – | – | – |
| T. Diawara | – | – | – | – |
| C. Russell III | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 77 | 28 | 7 | 24 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| C. Wilson | 22 | 9 | 1 | 2 |
| H. Veesaar | 17 | 11 | 4 | 2 |
| S. Trimble | 9 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| D. Dixon | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| J. Young | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| J. Powell | 12 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| L. Bogavac | 10 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| J. Stevenson | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| K. Evans | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Z. High | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| I. Denis | – | – | – | – |
| I. Matlekovic | – | – | – | – |
| J. Brown | – | – | – | – |
| E. Davis | – | – | – | – |
| J. Holbrook | – | – | – | – |
| E. Smith | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 87 | 37 | 16 | 19 |