UNC Hosts Pitt: Gameday Live Blog
North Carolina will look to tighten its grip on a double-bye in the ACC Tournament with its third straight win on Wednesday night at the Smith Center. The Tar Heels host Pitt in an 8:00 game.
UNC enters play tied for third place in the conference at 18-7, 10-4, although Miami holds a tiebreaker based on its 85-57 blowout of the Tar Heels in South Florida a month ago. Carolina needs to finish in the top four spots to get the first two days of the tournament off next month in Brooklyn. Wake Forest and Virginia are each a game behind UNC but tied in the win column, with twin 10-6 conference marks.
UNC is on the right side of the NCAA bubble, listed by ESPN as one of the last four teams to get a bye out of the First Four games.
Much like Saturday’s blowout of Florida State, the game against Pitt won’t do much to help North Carolina’s tournament resume. The Panthers are 5-10 in the ACC, 10-16 overall and in 11th place. Pitt has won two straight, however, for just the third time this season.
The Tar Heels, already missing Anthony Harris and Dawson Garcia for the rest of the season, will likely be without Justin McKoy. The transfer forward from UVA was in street clothes during pregame warmups.
Pitt struggles with shooting and turnovers on offense. The Panthers rank No. 306 in effective shooting and No. 317 in two-point shot accuracy. They are No. 311 in turnover rate on offense and are almost as bad forcing turnovers on defense, ranking No. 296. Pitt also struggles to defend the three-pointer, ranking No. 276 in that category.
Ted Valentine, Raymie Styons and Clarence Armstrong are the officials for the game.
Usual starters: Leaky Black, Armando Bacot, Caleb Love, RJ Davis, Brady Manek
Very sparse crowd for a mid-week 8:00 game against a lower-tier ACC foe.
Manek with the game's first five points. Pitt turns it over on its first three possessions
Pitt has caught UNC in points at 5-5. UNC has almost caught up in turnovers as we hit the under 16.
For the second time, a Pitt player just lost his grip on the ball as the team was getting into its offense.
Carolina is driving the lane. Bacot lured Hugley down the lane and off to the side, clearing a path for Love on a layup. Manek just picked up an offensive foul when Bacot's defender didn't follow on a similar play.
RJ Davis misses badly on a three and Bacot gets called for a foul going for the rebound. That takes us to the under 12 with UNC up 12-10.
Pitt is trying to strip Bacot every time he gets his hands on the ball. Bacot has not attempted a shot yet and has one rebound. And Hugley is working him on the other end. Bigger and has better footwork
Bacot goes to the bench. UNC goes to a zone.
Davis drives the line and picks up a charge. Pitt seems to have solved that play.
UNC has airballed three three-point attempts so far. Reminiscent of the start of the Duke game. Horton hits a three to put Pitt up 23-14 and UNC calls time out.
Time out didn't help. Pitt three, UNC turnover, Pitt three puts the margin at 15.
The roof just fell in on the Tar Heels to finish the half. Panthers hit a layup at the buzzer to go up 40-23 at the half.
Pitt is No. 306 in the country in effective shooting. They hit 55.5% in the first half.
Pitt is No. 253 in three-point shooting ... 6-of-9 tonight
Pitt is No. 296 in turnover rate on defense. UNC has 10 leading to a 20-9 edge in points off turnovers for Pitt.
Going back to the start of the 2008 season, UNC has lost one game to a Quad IV opponent -- Wofford in Carmichael in 2019-20. This would be their second
Wofford was ranked No. 151 per Bart Torvik. Pitt is currently No. 188. Would be the worst team UNC has lost to in at least 14 seasons
No progress in cutting the lead in the first segment of the second half. 45-28 at the under 16, although Bacot made his first basket of the night.
Bacot picks up his third foul on a made three-pointer by Hugley, who finishes the four-point play. 49-32 Pitt. 13-5 Hugley over Bacot.
That was the first four-point play UNC has given up since ... last month, against Miami. Wong scored it. Walton committed the foul.
UNC called for its third charge of the night, this time on Love.
Bacot can't hit two attempts at a layup and Pitt hits a three. Lead is 20.
It's 52-34 at the under 12, and some fans have already started to head for the exits
