The Syracuse University men's basketball team had the game tied at 44-44, but immediately gave up an 8-0 run before losing 77-64 against the North Carolina Tar Heels in front of more than 23,000 fans at the JMA Wireless Dome on Saturday afternoon.

With the loss, Syracuse is now 15-13 and 6-9 inside Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) play. They are on the verge of missing the NCAA Tournament for the fifth consecutive season.

Here's what you need to know:

Not only did Syracuse need the win after suffering a 37-point loss against Duke on Monday night, not only was Syracuse at home in front of the best crowd of the season, but North Carolina was playing without its best player: Freshman Caleb Wilson.

One of the top players in the country, Wilson is averaging 19.8 ppg and more than nine rebounds. He wasn't out there, and the Orange still lost by double-figures.

--JJ Starling led the Orange in scoring with 22 points. He was 10-of-19 from the floor. Only he and Tyler Betsey were in double-figures. Betsey had 10.

--Donnie Freeman scored just nine points on 3-of-8 shooting. Nate Kingz had four and Naithan George had seven. 

--Freeman was ejected from the game after picking up two technicals.

--SU had only six assists on the afternoon while committing 10 turnovers.

--Syracuse shot just 3-of-17 from three-point range (18 percent), as that continues to be a problem for this team.

--Syracuse was out-rebounded 38-34.

It just can't be overstated at this point: Syracuse is not a great offensive team. They are not a good enough shooting team to just stand around the perimeter and launch from deep. They have to find a way to get some ball movement so they can exploit some of their finishing ability at the rim, and create some more open jumpers.

After back-to-back games of scoring nine and four points, it was good to see Starling back in the high double-figures. He also scored 21 against Cal earlier this month, but he has not been as prolific this season. Last year he led the team in scoring about 18 ppg.

Syracuse retired the numbers of Jim Lee and Rudy Hackett at halftime. Hackett played 87 games for the Orange in three seasons, averaging 17.2 ppg in his career, including 22.2 as a senior. He had nearly 1,500 career points in an SU uniform and was an All-America selection. He also led the team in rebounding in each of his three seasons on the varsity squad. He wore No. 45.

Lee also spent three years in a Syracuse uniform, scoring 13.4 ppg, including 17.2 as a senior. He also hit the 1,000-point mark, finishing his career with 1,165. His free-throw shooting percentage of 85.9 percent ranks fourth all-time among Syracuse players. He wore No. 10.

There are three regular season games left for the Orange and they'll be back in action next Saturday, Feb. 28 when they travel to Wake Forest (3:45 p.m. ET).

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