Syracuse stuns No. 7 UNC behind Judah Mintz's 25 points - ESPN

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Judah Mintz scored 25 points, including 16 in the second half, and JJ Starling had 13 of his 23 points in the second half as Syracuse stunned No. 7 North Carolina 86-79 on Tuesday night.

North Carolina (19-6, 11-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) missed its first 10 shots of the second half and fell behind 52-43 but rallied and took a 65-64 lead on a layup by RJ Davis with 7:16 to go. But the Orange (16-9, 7-7), which suffered a 103-67 loss at Chapel Hill last month, was not to be denied.

Starling hit a desperation 3-point bank shot to reclaim the Orange lead at 67-65 with under seven minutes to go. Mintz hit a layup, jumper and two foul shots to give the Orange a 73-67 margin, and Starling hit another 3 to give Syracuse a 76-69 lead following a Harrison Ingram jumper with under three to go.

Syracuse hit foul shots down the stretch for the winning margin.

Syracuse entered Tuesday's game having lost 16 straight vs. AP Top 10 teams, with an average margin of defeat of just under 16 points, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. The Orange's last win over a Top 10 team was a 95-91 overtime victory over then-No. 1 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium in 2019.

Maliq Brown had 14 points and six rebounds for Syracuse in Tuesday's game, while Chris Bell chipped in with 13.

Davis led North Carolina with 19 points. Cormac Ryan had 18, and Armando Bacot and Harrison Ingram had 14 apiece.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.