C.J. Fair swatted a jump shot and bolted up court as Jerami Grant grabbed the loose ball.

With Syracuse on the break, Grant hit Michael Gbinije and Gbinije hit Fair on the right wing. Rise, release, swish.

The season-high 32,121 fans who packed into the Carrier Dome on Saturday exploded as No. 2 Syracuse took its first lead against North Carolina midway through the first half.

“Everything just got energized. We fed off that shot,” Grant said. “After that, there was no looking back.”

The No. 2 Orange (16-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast) used a 19-3 first-half run keyed by defensive excellence and offensive dominance from Fair and Grant to pull away from North Carolina (10-6, 0-3) and win 57-45 in the christening of a newly formed conference rivalry. Syracuse held North Carolina to its lowest scoring output in 17 years — one that matched its lowest total in the shot-clock era.

While the Tar Heels shot just 2-for-12 from 3-point range, unable to crack SU’s compact 2-3 zone, Fair and Grant combined for 32 points and 20 rebounds — including 19 of the Orange’s first 21 points.

“We just outfought ‘em,” Fair said.

But for the first four minutes, James Michael McAdoo and North Carolina were in control. The junior forward drained a jumper from the high post before picking Tyler Ennis’ pocket for a transition slam.

The pressure and athleticism of UNC fazed Syracuse early on. Fair and Ennis committed two turnovers each in the first 4:04 as the Tar Heels opened an 8-2 lead. The crowd grew wary. SU head coach Jim Boeheim sneered. The Orange called a timeout.

That’s when Boeheim tightened the screws of his team’s 2-3 zone. The centers pressed up and the guards dropped. North Carolina lost control of the high post, and of the game.

SU forced North Carolina — which entered the game as the third-worst 3-point shooting team in the country by makes per game — to shoot outside. The result was nine UNC turnovers and four SU blocks in the first half alone.

Marcus Paige, UNC’s leading scorer, entered halftime with just three points. McAdoo was the only Tar Heels player to record more than one field goal in the opening frame.

“We made some unbelievable plays defensively in the first half,” Boeheim said. “It was just our defense that won the basketball game, period.”

It was the defense that sparked the offense.

An emphatic rejection by Grant on forward Kennedy Meeks led to two Fair free throws at the 12:48 mark. A corner trap on freshman forward Isaiah Hicks gave SU another possession 43 seconds later.

And when UNC sophomore forward Brice Johnson lost his dribble in the paint with 11:02 left in the first half, Rakeem Christmas laid out onto the floor to grab the ball.

Trevor Cooney missed a pair of open 3s on that possession, but Fair drained his right-wing triple on the next one.

“He’s our senior. He’s our guy that we look to, to get us going,” Cooney said. “And when he’s going, we’re just as good as anyone.”

From there, Fair and Grant continued to pick apart the Tar Heels’ defense.

Fair tallied three more points after McDonald fouled him on a 3-point attempt, then saved an Ennis miss, which led to two Grant free throws.

The pair entered halftime with 23 points — one more than North Carolina — as Syracuse took a 34-22 lead into the break.

“It’s pick your poison, really,” Fair said. “I got it going, and once they keyed on me, Jerami got it going. It’s hard to stop both of us. As a duo, I think we’re one of the best duos in the country.”

The Orange defense wavered at times in the second half, but North Carolina never pulled within single digits. The Tar Heels made just 10 shots in each half and never more than two straight without an SU point.

Fair finished with 20 points and eight rebounds. While Grant didn’t score in the second half, he logged 12 rebounds to go with his 12 points.

The combination of those two factors allowed Syracuse to improve to 16-0 for the third time in four seasons, and sent the Tar Heels packing with their first 0-3 start in conference play since 1996-97.

Said Grant: “We played hard tonight. We played harder than we usually do for the whole game. Usually we do it in spurts, but today we did it for 40 minutes.”

Published on January 11, 2014 at 2:04 pm

Contact Stephen: sebail01@syr.edu | @Stephen_Bailey1