After opening ACC play with nine consecutive wins, North Carolina lost for the third time in five games on Tuesday.
In a road game against Syracuse, the Tar Heels could not mount a last-minute comeback against the Orange en route to an 86-79 loss.
The Orange jumped on North Carolina early, taking a 17-9 lead in the opening six minutes after a pair of early 3-pointers from Maliq Brown.
Syracuse led by 10 with eight minutes to play in the opening half, but UNC surged back to square the game at 42 apiece before the break.
However, with all the momentum in their favor once the second half resumed, the Tar Heels again fell flat on the opening whistle. The Orange opened the second frame on a 10-1 run behind two 3-pointers and four points from guard Judah Mintz.
Syracuse accomplished all of this offense with just six players in their rotation. Mintz and his teammate J.J. Starling combined for 48 points on 26 shots, and four of the six Syracuse players who saw the court scored at least 13 points.
The Orange were outrebounded 30-23, but they shot 62.5% from the floor and 47.1% from beyond the arc as a team in one of the most impressive and efficient offensive displays of the season.
On the North Carolina end, star guard and potential All-American RJ Davis made just seven of his 17 attempts, including a late 3-point effort that could have made it a one-score game, to finish with 19 points. The Tar Heels finished the game shooting 47.5% from the field.
The replay booth offered a helping hand to the Orange, too. Within the final minutes, officials overturned two different out-of-bounds calls to give Syracuse possession after a video review revealed North Carolina touched the ball last.
The two reversals, combined with a turnover from UNC guard Cormac Ryan, gave Syracuse the chances they needed to put North Carolina away, and the Orange made seven free throws in the final minute to ice the game.
With the loss, North Carolina falls to 19-6 on the season and 11-3 in conference play. Duke now sits just half a game behind the Tar Heels in the ACC standings as the Blue Devils haven’t lost a game since the two battled in Chapel Hill.