Syracuse (23-13, 9-9 Atlantic Coast) has defied the odds this postseason and earned a trip to the Final Four on Sunday with a 68-62 win over No. 1-seeded Virginia (29-8, 13-5).

And there SU will face North Carolina (32-6, 14-4), another No. 1 seed, on Saturday, April 2 at 8:49 p.m. in Houston, Texas. The game will be televised on TBS.

Syracuse is 4-0 in its last four meetings with No. 1 seeds after beating Virginia.

The Tar Heels defeated No. 6 seed Notre Dame in the last Elite Eight game on Sunday, 88-74. UNC big man Brice Johnson had 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting with 12 rebounds. All five UNC starters scored in double digits.

Syracuse has played North Carolina twice this season. Hosting the Tar Heels on Jan. 9 in Jim Boeheim’s return from suspension, the Orange fell 84-73 to complete its 0-4 start in conference play. Then SU went on a midseason run, winning eight of nine games before falling into another rut, losing four of five to close the regular season.

On Feb. 29 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, UNC was a part of that punishing finish when it distanced itself from a surging Syracuse with a 75-70 victory.

The UNC frontcourt, most notably senior Brice Johnson who shot 13-for-21 for 30 points against SU this season, picked apart the 2-3 zone this season. It’s the same frontcourt that’s blocked 6.4 percent of its opponent’s shots this season, the 10th best rate in college basketball.

The Tar Heels are among the worst 3-point shooting teams in the nation, making just 32.1 percent of its tries from beyond the arc. Sunday reflected that as UNC made 31 percent (4-for-13) of its 3-pointers.

But UNC compensated with its efficiency on 2-point attempts. Against Notre Dame, 61.5 percent of those attempts fell (32-for-52), even better than its season average of 53.7 percent on 2-pointers, 22nd-best in the nation.

Syracuse will have its third, and final, attempt at solving the Tar Heels on Saturday.

Published on March 28, 2016 at 12:34 am

Contact Sam: sjfortie@syr.edu | @Sam4TR