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Ian Jackson found himself in a rut. A three-game stretch against some of the top competition in the Atlantic Coast Conference found the freshman phenom totaling a combined 11 points and, most notably, the first goose egg of his college career.

Fighting the challenges of being a budding star, Jackson met with North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis daily this week. They spoke about the adjustments teams have recently made on him, the adjustments he must make in return and how he can impact the game outside of simply scoring.

Saturday, against Syracuse, Jackson made those adjustments. Led by the freshman’s 16 first-half points and 23 overall, North Carolina (15-11, 8-6 ACC) downed the Orange (11-15, 5-10 ACC) 88-82, pushing SU once again to the brink of the ACC Tournament bubble.

Jackson caught fire from beyond the arc, tying a career-high with 5 3-pointers on an efficient 8-of-15 shooting night.

“It felt good to get back in a groove. When the first one go in, I knew a lot more gonna go in,” Jackson said postgame.

While Syracuse is a long way from the Bronx, Davis said he saw Jackson have an added excitement about playing this game due to being back in New York and playing his best friend. UNC’s freshman grew up alongside Syracuse’s Elijah Moore.

The two played on the AAU circuit and in high school together from eighth grade through their senior years, helping each other develop their identities on the court and brands off of it. Jackson emerged as the No. 8 player in the 2024 class, per 247Sports, becoming a McDonald’s All-American.

While Moore cracked SU’s starting lineup, he played just eight minutes, matching up against Jackson in the final seconds of the first half. Jackson didn’t start to open the year but started 12 straight across late December until Feb. 10, when he was moved back to the bench due to recent struggles. In his second game coming off the bench, Jackson didn’t enter until nearly five minutes in. When he did, it sparked instant offense.

Entering the game, the Tar Heels were struggling mightily from 3. Just five days before its trip to the JMA Wireless Dome, an abysmal 4-of-19 display limited UNC’s offense to just 65 points against Clemson.

Because of a recent cold stretch, Davis thought Syracuse protected the paint, allowing North Carolina to take more shots from the outside to limit inside scoring. The Orange did just that against the Tar Heels early on, who scored just four points on a 1-for-8 start from the field.

When Jackson entered at the 15:30 mark, his scoring prowess quickly was on full display. Following a North Carolina defensive stop, Jackson started in the right corner off the ball and ran across the paint into the left. UNC guard Elliot Cadeau drove into the paint from the top of the key and kicked out to the left wing to Drake Powell. The forward made the extra pass to Jackson in the left corner and let him get to work.

As SU sat in a 2-3 zone, Jackson was on an island with Syracuse forward Jyáre Davis. He caught the pass and took a hesitation toward the hoop to get Jyáre into the air. As he jumped, Jackson took one dribble to his right, stepped back behind the arc and drilled it.

Minutes later, with SU and UNC tied at 8-8, Jackson fought through a Eddie Lampkin Jr. screen and picked the pocket of Chris Bell in the open court. He dashed down the length of the court and flushed it home with his right hand, soaring over the late contest from Bell from behind.

UNC freshman guard Ian Jackson sizes up Syracuse’s offense in the Tar Heels’ 88-82 win Saturday. Joe Zhao | Design Editor

Within his meetings with Davis, Jackson’s game preparation has been the clear adaptation that needed to be made. Not preparing himself. But preparing for the competition ahead.

“I wasn’t blaming anybody else but me for how I prepare,” Jackson said. “So I took it upon myself to say, ‘I have to change and prepare a little bit better.’”

Syracuse threw man-to-man defense at Jackson with Bell holding strong. It threw a zone defense that kept Jackson along the perimeter. But unlike his past struggles, Jackson had the answers to the test.

Davis’s added emphasis on Jackson was his ability to impact the game outside of scoring. His quick speed and 6-foot-4 frame allow for a keen ability to defend and rebound. He added offensive rebounds Saturday, even tapping home a missed layup by Seth Trimble. With under seven minutes to play in the first half, a Kyle Cuffe Jr. layup attempt was swatted off the backboard by Jackson, turning into a transition bucket.

Despite the all-around performance, Jackson made his money with the 3. As UNC poured it on, he was the catalyst. With the Orange back to a zone defense, Jaquan Carlos and Cuffe manned the top. Jackson found a crease near the top of the key and sank a triple.

To push the Tar Heels’ lead to 31-21, Jackson caught the ball in the left corner again and pranced around, using a fake penetration dribble and stepping back to find nothing but nylon and his 13th point of the game.

“I feel like we kind of gave him some early looks, it got him going,” SU’s Lucas Taylor said of Jackson.

With under a minute to play in the half, after Jackson substituted out for a few minutes then entered back in, he matched up with Moore. Jackson darted from the left corner to the right along the baseline, forcing Moore into a traffic jam. Jackson received the bounce pass from RJ Davis and hit his fourth 3 of the half, forcing SU head coach Adrian Autry into a moment of rage just feet away on the sidelines.

Jackson’s 16 points in the first half allowed an eight-point cushion for the Tar Heels. He entered off the bench in the second half but didn’t find as much of a groove while the UNC lead dwindled.

Just like the story of his freshman year, Jackson started off hot, slowed down and now needed to rebound. Through the stretch, Jackson harped on staying even-keeled, never getting too high or low. He did the same against the Orange, knocking down his fifth 3 in the left corner to put North Carolina up 65-62 with 9:06 to play. The Tar Heels never relinquished the lead, as Jackson added free throws and layups to seal the deal.

Postgame, Davis said he tells his players to play fast and free but not cool and casual. The play style of Jackson matches that of a gazelle with his smooth strides and ultra-rare athleticism. But the recent struggles never dampened any spirits, keeping his confidence until a breakout occurred again.

A breakout happened Saturday, and it sent the Tar Heels shooting further up the ACC standings and launched the Orange on a continued spiral on the edge of the conference tournament cliff.

Published on February 16, 2025 at 12:47 am

Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky