Syracuse (16-13, 9-9 Atlantic Coast) dropped its home finale to a struggling North Carolina (12-17, 5-13) squad 92-79 in a loss that all but secures an NCAA Tournament miss. Depending on Syracuse’s upcoming ACC tournament performance, the loss also perhaps puts it in danger of missing the National Invitational Tournament as well.

Here are some takeaways from the game.

GOABS: Greatest of all Bourama Sidibes

Sidibe, one game removed from perhaps his best two-game stretch of the season, had another strong game Saturday. He finished with 17 points, 15 rebounds and bothered multiple shots at or around the rim. In recent games, Sidibe has looked quicker, been more aggressive and has set stronger screens so he is no longer a liability on the offensive side of the court.

Head coach Jim Boeheim said after a six-point, 10-rebound performance against Georgia Tech that Sidibe can still give more. Sidibe laughed. Boeheim always asks for more, he said. But the next game against Pittsburgh he delivered a 13-point, 10-rebound outing. Sidibe is playing his best basketball of the season in time for SU’s most important, most desperate stretch. 

Got their Buddy back

Buddy Boeheim missed the second half against Pittsburgh after he tweaked his ankle. After the game, he said the pain wasn’t bad at halftime, but Syracuse was up big. The rest may have helped as Buddy started the game against North Carolina Saturday on fire and scored 17 of the Orange’s 35 first-half points. His shooting was crisp and he sized up multiple defenders with his ability to shoot over UNC’s undersized lead guards.

Buddy was a key option for SU with the rest of the team misfiring from outside. North Carolina started off by having Cole Anthony guard Buddy but then switched up the look as Buddy started to pour it on. Buddy cooled off some in the second half but still led SU in scoring with 22 points.

Cole. Anthony.

Anthony, the freshman who has played just 17 games for North Carolina due to injury, absolutely tore into the Orange defense. His early penetration was UNC’s only chance at a solid look in the early part of the game and his 3-point shooting was too much to handle in the second half. Syracuse gave him space and dared him to shoot. Anthony scored 25 points total and was enough of a scoring punch to eliminate any chance of Syracuse cutting into UNC’s lead.