SYRACUSE, NY – Big versus small?

That is the question facing North Carolina with six games remaining in the regular season.

UNC Coach Hubert Davis leans heavily on adapting to opponents, which is one reason he went big last week at Clemson starting 6-foot-9 Jae’Lyn Withers at the four spot after six consecutive games of starting a lineup with four players at or shorter than 6-foot-4.

Davis started Withers again Saturday at Syracuse, and all he did was score 19 points, grabbed six rebounds, and blocked three shots.

A key response to Carolina going bigger, however, was unlocking freshman sometimes-scoring machine Ian Jackson. After a seven-game stretch averaging only 7.4 points, he went for 23 against the Orange and appeared to regain the same look that carried him to a 22.7 average over a seven-game stretch preceding his drought.

“I would say yeah, yeah. With different lineups come different opportunities,” Jackson said after the win over Syracuse, referring to the shots he gets in a bigger lineup versus a smaller one. “With certain lineups certain shots I won’t be getting… Opportunity changes a little more.”

In the productive seven-game span starting with a December 21 win over UCLA at Madison Square Garden, Jackson shot 56-for-93 (60.2%) from the field, including 19-for-46 (41.3%) from the perimeter, and averaged attempting 5.7 free throws per game.

In the less productive seven-game span, Jackson shot 18-for-59 (30.5%) from the floor, including 5-for-26 (19.2%) from 3-point range, and has averaged attempting only 2 free throws per game.

He drained a 3-pointer 32 seconds after checking in Saturday, had a steal and dunk a minute later, hit two huge threes responding to Syracuse spurts, and productive Ian was back in full swing. He won’t say it’s because of a bigger lineup, but noting different scoring opportunities offers some insight into The Bronx, NY, native’s thinking.

“You’ve got to talk to HD (Hubert Davis) about (that), you know, what it looks like in detail,” Jackson said. “But I say opportunity changed a little more.”

Carolina’s coach, however, doesn’t embrace the notion the shots are different for Jackson, or anyone, when playing small versus big.

“I don’t know that whatever lineup is on the floor that shots are available more with this lineup or that lineup,” he said Monday during the ACC Coaches’ Call. “I don’t really have an answer to that one.”

If winning and losing matters more than Jackson’s stats, it also suggests bigger is better for the Tar Heels (15-11, 8-6 ACC).

During the good stretch for Jackson, the Heels were 6-1. During the not-so-good stretch, which started during the course of a loss at home to Stanford, the Heels were 2-5.

Veteran RJ Davis didn’t mince words. When asked about playing bigger and if it’s time to perhaps scrap the small lineup, he laughed and then replied.

“I think it would help,” he said. “We have the past couple of weeks we’ve had Seth at the four, that’s a hard task to ask Seth to play the one-through-four, right? So, just to have Wit (Withers) as another extra body with his height, his versatility, and athleticism would be huge for us. We’re going to need more of that from him.”

And it’s possible the Heels will need more big lineups than small ones if they are to morph into an NCAA Tournament team closing out the season.