UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs. Pittsburgh 70-57 Win
UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Surges Past a Gritty Pittsburgh Team to Win Their First ACC Road Game
by Derrick Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team headed to Pittsburgh to avenge themselves losing five out of the last six games to the Panthers. Pittsburgh has played bully ball against the Tar Heels for the last three years. They tried it again tonight but North Carolina was more than up for the challenge. The game started with both teams ice-cold from the field. UNC missed their first 10 shots and the Panthers were 3-13 from the field to hold a slim 6-0 lead with 13 minutes remaining in the first.
The Tar Heels’ intense defense and rebounding kept them in the game until RJ Davis took the top off the basket to hit a 3-pointer cutting the deficit in half 6-3. It would be a tough and gritty game with both teams trading baskets and displaying physical defensive play. Seth Trimble would a spark off of the bench for North Carolina hitting a swooping layup, an alley-oop dunk, and a pull-up 3-pointer with the shot clock running out. The Tar heels would go on a 31-22 run to close out the first half.
In the second half, North Carolina would go on a 7-0 run with an RJ Davis 3-pointer and an Elliot Cadeau drive to the basket and a foul. This allowed the Tar Heels to create some distance from the Panthers. The UNC defense and rebounding was the story of the game. They held Pittsburgh to 31% shooting from the field, 17% from the 3-point line, and outrebounded the Panthers by 10. UNC had 16 offensive rebounds and 15 second-chance points.
The Tar Heels had four players in double figures and two players with double-figure rebounds led by Armando Bacot’s 16 points and 10 rebounds. North Carolina won a hard-fought game to earn its first ACC road game victory of the season.
UNC Game Stats
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| 8 North Carolina 10-3 | 31 | 39 | 70 |
| Pittsburgh 9-5 | 28 | 29 | 57 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| A. Bacot | 16 | 10 | 1 | 5/10 | 0/1 | 6/6 | 1 | 35 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| R. Davis | 15 | 3 | 4 | 6/16 | 3/6 | 0/0 | 1 | 36 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| C. Ryan | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3/9 | 0/2 | 4/4 | 4 | 32 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| H. Ingram | 7 | 15 | 3 | 2/14 | 1/5 | 2/2 | 1 | 35 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| E. Cadeau | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2/2 | 0/0 | 0/1 | 4 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| S. Trimble | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3/7 | 1/1 | 3/4 | 3 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| J. Withers | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2/3 | 0/1 | 2/2 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| J. Washington | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0/2 | 0/1 | 2/3 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| P. Wojcik | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Farris | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Okonkwo | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| R. Landry | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Z. High | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| C. Lebo | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 70 | 46 | 12 | 23/63 | 5/17 | 19/22 | 19 | – | 5 | 7 | 9 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| C. Carrington | 20 | 4 | 2 | 6/17 | 2/8 | 6/7 | 2 | 36 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| B. Hinson | 11 | 4 | 0 | 4/16 | 2/11 | 1/3 | 3 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| G. Diaz Graham | 10 | 4 | 0 | 4/11 | 1/6 | 1/2 | 2 | 25 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| I. Leggett | 4 | 8 | 1 | 2/6 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Z. Austin | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0/2 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| J. Lowe | 10 | 3 | 2 | 4/8 | 0/1 | 2/2 | 4 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| F. Federiko | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 4 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| J. Diaz Graham | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0/4 | 0/2 | 0/1 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| K. Marshall | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| W. Jeffress | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| M. Hueitt Jr. | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| V. Stevenson | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| B. Mayhew | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| M. Barnes Jr. | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| P. Amadou Kante | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Nelson | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 57 | 34 | 6 | 21/68 | 5/29 | 10/15 | 19 | – | 5 | 8 | 7 |
Needs Work
The Tar Heels need to continue to move the ball to the open man and not depend so heavily on RJ Davis scoring the ball. The players need to stay aggressive and look for their shot when they are open or have a mismatch.
Final Observations
North Carolina improves to 10-3 on the season by securing their first road game in the ACC. They showed the toughness and the grit to out physical a stubborn Pittsburgh team on the road. The Tar Heels are showing some signs of a special team forming. They won the game playing ugly and they got great production off the bench with Seth Trimble scoring 10 points and snaring 7 rebounds and Jae’lyn Withers adding six points, 3 rebounds, and a vicious left-handed putback dunk.
Coach Davis needs to continue to build confidence in the players coming off the bench relieving the starters and helping Cormac Ryan find his shot. This team is learning to win in many different ways and different players are starting to show up when it is needed to get the job done. Next up the Heels head to Clemson for their second of three road games Saturday, Jan 6th at 12 noon.
It was good to see Carolina win a gritty, tough road game. Minutes are still high for the starters, but they were needed last night. Seems like Trimble is coming into his own. Wasn’t a great shooting night for the Heels, but the rebounding and free throw shooting made up for it.