There was a time when a matchup between North Carolina and Syracuse would have been a primetime event on network TV. The two programs have lived in the high rent district of college hoops for many decades, but that was far from the case Saturday.

Syracuse entered the game 11-4 in year one of the Adrian Autry regime, while North Carolina was looking to get into the top five after a rash of upsets of ranked teams throughout the week.

Any anticipated drama never transpired. It was over as soon as the opening tip went up. UNC went up double-digits (19-8) at the 12:55 mark. The lead went to 20 (36-16) with 7:39 remaining in the first half. It ballooned to as much as 39 late in the second half before the final score settled at 103-67.

The defense held the opponent to under 70 points once again for the sixth straight game, and at 70 points of lower for the 11th straight Atlantic Coast Conference game. The offensive explosion also hopefully laid any fears to rest from fans who fret that the offense isn't up to snuff. The 103 points came on the heels of scoring outputs of 70, 65, and 67.

The Tar Heels have showed ruggedness since the loss to Kentucky. Today, we will focus on how the explosiveness is still there.