After a much-needed win against Notre Dame on Saturday night, the Syracuse University men's basketball team enters Monday's conference tilt against North Carolina as a big underdog.

The Orange are 13-9 on the season but just 4-5 in league play. The Tar Heels are 17-4, but 5-3 inside the league, and the three league losses were surprising defeats against SMU, Cal and Stanford.

While the Orange are big underdogs on paper, they will have the ability to play with the Tar Heels if they remain disciplined and sound on both sides of the floor.

There's also something else Adrian Autry can do in this game that should help keep the game close: Play Kiyan Anthony more.

While Anthony is a good player who can score, this isn't even so much about that. What it is about is fresh legs.

Syracuse just played on Monday night, and then hopped on a flight to get to get to Chapel Hill. They will barely have a 48-hour turnaround for this game, so it would make sense if some members of the Orange are tired. Anthony shouldn't be. He played just nine minutes against the Irish and will have the ability to come in and provide a spark, if he's given the chance.

The son of Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony, Kiyan entered this season as one of the nation's top freshmen recruits. He's had big games and big moments, but his playing time has drastically fallen in conference play. In nine league games, he's played 20 minutes or more only once. He's played 10 or less twice.

Why is that? Maybe because he's only shooting 24.6 percent from three-point range. Maybe because he's thin and teams tend to attack him defensively. That's all true and there are definitely things to work on, but he does have the ability to run, to score, and to facilitate as a passer, though he isn't consistently given that chance.

He should be on Monday. The Tar Heels are better than Syracuse. If Autry's team wants to pull the upset, he'll have to pull different levers. This is one.

--The SU women's basketball team is now 18-4 on the season and 8-3 inside ACC play. They'll be back in action on Thursday night at Boston College. The Orange most recently beat Miami on Sunday afternoon 65-60.

--The No. 2/3 SU men's lacrosse team opened its season on Sunday afternoon against No. 16/17 Boston University at the JMA Wireless Dome. Syracuse, who advanced to the Final Four in 2025, won by a score of 13-6.

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