SYRACUSE, NY – If North Carolina is going to make anything of its remaining season, it must get Ian Jackson to play like Ian Jackson should play.

Never was that more evident than Saturday night when the struggling Tar Heels needed every bit of his resurgent 23-point performance in an 88-82 win over Syracuse inside JMA wireless Dome.

If not for Jackson regaining his January form, UNC would have suffered the indignity of losing to one of the worst teams in the ACC that was coming off a loss at bottom-dweller Miami, which happened to score 91 points against the Orange.