UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs. Pittsburgh 72-65 Win
UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Holds Off the Pittsburgh Panthers and Advance to the ACC Tournament Championship Game
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team faced off against Pittsburgh on Friday night in the ACC tournament semifinals. Both teams come into this game with things they want to accomplish to impress the NCAA tournament committee. The Tar Heels are looking to continue to build their resume for a #1 seed bid in the NCAA tournament, while Pittsburgh was looking to add another big-time win to make sure they get a bid in the tournament. To start the game, Pittsburgh came out and played with a lot of desperation and focus, which allowed them to get out to an early 15-8 lead following an 11-0 run. The Panthers challenged the Tar Heels early and it was up to UNC to take it personally to step it up.
For the Tar Heels to come back, they were going to need to match Pittsburgh’s energy and desperation on both ends of the floor. This would lead to a very close first half with everything being left on the floor. Both teams were aggressive in attacking the paint offensively and trying to impose their will on the game. Pittsburgh led for most of the first half and it was mostly due to the offensive success of Carlton Carrington, who had 16 points on 6-9 from the field, and the costly turnovers by North Carolina. Carrington was able to get to his spots and made tough shots giving Pittsburgh supreme confidence. However, the Tar Heels would battle back and chip away at the Pittsburgh lead for a good portion of the first half until they tied the game back up at 33 with under a minute left before halftime. Late in the first half, the Tar Heels picked up their defensive intensity and pressure leading to consecutive stops, and allowed the Heels to only be down 2 going into intermission.
In the second half, it was a very close tough gritty final 20 minutes of the game. Both teams gave it their all on every possession. The game would indeed come down to which team would make the most impactful plays down the stretch of the game. For the Tar Heels, it was their defense that allowed them to get back in the game and put themselves in a position to take the lead. UNC’s defense on Pittsburgh’s best player Blake Hinson, who averages 19 points a game, was outstanding throughout the game holding him to just 2-12 from the field. Harrison Ingram, who was Hinson’s primary defender, deserves a lot of credit for his versatility and the way he shut down Hinson in tonight’s game.
With about 14 minutes left in the game, the turning point for UNC and the biggest play of the game was made by Armando Bacot who got a steal on an inbound that led to a breakaway dunk for Bacot to give Carolina a three-point lead. That play was a huge momentum shift for the Heels and just energized the whole team. From that point on it felt like the Tar Heels were going to win the game. RJ Davis was excellent offensively in the second half with 19 points and finished the game with 25 points. Davis along with Armando Bacot carried North Carolina in the second half and were the only two players that finished in double figures.
However, even with Carolina seemingly having all the momentum and pushing their lead to 7, Pittsburgh would not go away. The Panthers fought back in the game to the very end and with just over 4 minutes left in the game tied the game at 62 after making tough shots and gritty plays defensively, putting the pressure back on the Tar Heels. UNC would step up to challenge and lock in defensively late leading to six consecutive stops. The Heels’ stifling defense down the stretch was followed up by excellent execution offensively on the last few possessions, fueling a 10-3 run to end the game. Carolina would pull out a 72-65 win over Pittsburgh and advance to the ACC Championship game.
UNC Game Stats
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| 4 Pittsburgh 22-11 | 35 | 30 | 65 |
| 1 North Carolina 27-6 | 33 | 39 | 72 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| R. Davis | 25 | 3 | 2 | 8/18 | 3/10 | 6/8 | 3 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Bacot | 19 | 11 | 3 | 8/13 | 0/0 | 3/5 | 2 | 34 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| H. Ingram | 6 | 6 | 2 | 2/6 | 1/3 | 1/2 | 1 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| E. Cadeau | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2/9 | 0/2 | 2/2 | 2 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| C. Ryan | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1/9 | 1/6 | 0/0 | 3 | 33 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| J. Washington | 6 | 2 | 0 | 3/3 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| S. Trimble | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 2/2 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Withers | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| D. Farris | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Okonkwo | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| R. Landry | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Z. High | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| P. Wojcik | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| C. Lebo | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 72 | 38 | 16 | 26/60 | 6/22 | 14/19 | 12 | – | 3 | 2 | 9 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| C. Carrington | 24 | 5 | 3 | 9/17 | 4/8 | 2/2 | 3 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| J. Lowe | 17 | 4 | 4 | 7/16 | 1/4 | 2/2 | 1 | 37 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| B. Hinson | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2/12 | 0/5 | 1/1 | 2 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Z. Austin | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1/4 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| F. Federiko | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1/3 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 3 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| G. Diaz Graham | 8 | 7 | 3 | 3/5 | 2/3 | 0/0 | 4 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| I. Leggett | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2/7 | 1/3 | 1/1 | 2 | 28 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| W. Jeffress | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| M. Hueitt Jr. | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Diaz Graham | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| V. Stevenson | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| B. Mayhew | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| M. Barnes Jr. | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| P. Amadou Kante | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Nelson | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| K. Marshall | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 65 | 29 | 10 | 25/65 | 9/27 | 6/6 | 17 | – | 4 | 2 | 5 |
UNC Bright Spots
RJ Davis had 25 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Armando Bacot had 19 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal.
Needs Work
When Carolina has a lead, they need to do a better job of extending their leads. Too many times they get lazy and unfocused defensively make careless mistakes and take ill-advised shots offensively, which allows opponents to hang around.
Harrison Ingram, Elliott Cadeau, and Cormac Ryan all shot under 34% from the field, which isn’t good and doesn’t need to happen again because it is win-or-go-home time.
Final Observations
North Carolina is in the midst of a great season and can top it off with an ACC tournament championship tomorrow night before the NCAA tournament next week. The Tar Heels continue to find different ways to win games and it just goes to show how adaptable their style of play is. If you want to play a physical low-scoring brand of basketball, they can do that. If you play a high-scoring up-and-down game, they can do that also. The Heels have all the pieces and components of a championship team. It is displayed from game to game and the team has been a joy to watch all season long. The job is not finished yet though. They must finish the job in the ACC championship tomorrow night and then go on their quest for their eighth national championship starting next week. The ACC championship tomorrow will be at 8:30 on ESPN.