The North Carolina Tar Heels (14-10, 7-5 ACC) secured a victory over conference opponent Pittsburgh (14-9, 5-7 ACC) on Saturday 67-66, keeping their hopes of March Madness alive and avoiding a season sweep by the Panthers. Senior star RJ Davis hit a go-ahead jumper with 0:52 left in the second half, securing the 1 point victory as Pittsburgh was unable to answer in the remaining seconds of regulation.
Tar Heels Keep Things too Close for Comfort
If the last second shot wasn’t an indication of how close the game was, neither UNC nor the Panthers did anything marginally better in the stat column. North Carolina shot 48.1% from the field to include 46.7% from 3 point range, compared to Pitt’s 42.3% and 47.1% respectively. Pittsburgh out rebounded the Tar Heels 33-27, while also committing more turnovers at 9-6. Both teams saw nearly equal opportunity’s at the free throw line, as UNC converted 8/15 (53.3%), as the Panthers went 14/18 (77.8%).
Double Digit Scorers
The Tar Heels once again rolled with a small-ball lineup, as their tallest starter was forward Ven-Allen Lubin at 6’8″. Lubin scored a season high 17 points on Saturday, including 9 of North Carolina’s first 12 points. RJ Davis led all scorers with 18 points, while starting junior Seth Trimble aided with 15 points. Freshman guard Drake Powell came off the bench to tally 10 points of his own.
Post Game Comments
Head Coach Hubert Davis emphasized the teams effort in the win, stating “I think you should play like that every day, every possession. Whether it’s shoot around, practice, or game. It’s not a sense of urgency, it’s a sense of emergency.” Many North Carolina fans have already expressed frustration over this seasons results, and having to play in emergency situations isn’t what they had in mind at the beginning of this years campaign. North Carolina will need to finish the season strong if they hope to make the 64 team tournament.
Road Trip
UNC will hit the road to face Clemson (19-5, 11-2 ACC), before travelling to Syracuse (11-13, 5-8 ACC) to take on the Orange.
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