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Heel Tough Blog: Pittsburgh Recap

Writer's picture: Joshua MarlowJoshua Marlow

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Looking to build off the win over Boston College last Saturday, the Tar Heels instead fell at Pittsburgh last night, as Carolina fell to 13-9 on the season, 6-4 in the ACC, and 1-8 in Quad 1 games this season. Carolina has struggled to close out games all season long, but they didn’t wait until the final media timeout to go sideways, as Carolina scored just two points across the final 6:30, and only 4 points after an under-8 timeout in the second half, in an eventual 73-65 loss. 


It was a tale of two halves for UNC last night, as they ran out to a 44-42 lead at the half, after they shot 57% from the field, and connected on 6 three-pointers. On the flip side, that lead should have been bigger, and it was at one point, as Carolina led 44-34 with less than two minutes left in the half, but back-to-back turnovers fueled an 8-0 Pitt run, to get close right before the half. In the second half, Carolina shot just 9-29 from the field (31%), they were 1-11 (9%) from behind the arc, on their way to 21 second-half points. As bad as their shooting was in the second half, turnovers were the name of the game for UNC, they turned it over 14 times, and it led to 22 Pitt points, in large part of their 16 points in transition. 


Jalen Washington missed last night’s game after spraining his knee against Boston College, and his presence was sorely missed. Ven-Allen Lubin started his second straight game, and totaled just 6 points, and 7 rebounds, in 32 minutes. Ty Claude played 4 minutes off the bench but failed to score a point or grab a rebound. James Brown played one minute in the first half, picked up two fouls, and never saw the court again. Still, Carolina won the rebounding battle, 38-28, controlling the offensive and defensive glass, but it wasn’t enough. The absence of Washington was missed on the offensive end, as Carolina had no inside scoring presence, and as a result, they only scored 34 points in the paint, a game after scoring 58.


At 13-9 and 6-4 in the ACC, Carolina’s season is officially on life support, in terms of qualifying for the 2025 NCAA Tournament. But last night’s loss shouldn’t surprise you, because it was just another example of how mediocre this team, and this program have become under Hubert Davis. 


  1. Overdribbling: After the game, Carolina identified overdribbling as a result of the turnovers, and the overall inefficient offense in the second half. The two turnovers that RJ Davis committed right before halftime were a result of overdribbling, which saw a double-digit lead go away, Elliot Cadeau overdribbled multiple times which led to runouts for Pitt going the other way, and the same could be said for every guard, and every player that played legit minutes last night. Live ball turnovers have plagued the team all season long, and last night they cost them a game that they controlled for the majority of the night. It’s mindboggling that a team that plays four guards as frequently as this UNC team does, turns the ball over as much as this team does. 

  2. Poor Second Half Shooting: In large part due to the overdribbling, Carolina didn’t generate the same quality of shot that they got in the first half, as they scored just 21 points, on 31% from the field, and 9% from behind the arc. UNC finished the game going 0-7 across the last 3:21, and 1-11 from the field dating back to the under-8 timeout. After the way the offense executed for 45 minutes against Boston College, and in the first 20 minutes last night, it’s hard to fathom how bad they were in the second half. 

  3. Fouling: After not playing any defense in the BC game, last night, they struggled to play defense in the halfcourt without fouling. Pitt got to the foul line 20 times and converted on 16 of their freebies. Elliot Cadeau continues to struggle with foul trouble, as he picked up two first-half fouls, for the seventh time in ACC games, and eventually fouled out, and played 28 minutes. On the flip side, after shooting 33 foul shots against Boston College, they only took 9 in the second half and just 4 in the second half. 

  4. Quad 1 Opportunity Squandered: Last night was another Quad 1 opportunity for Carolina, and they fell to 1-8 in those games this year. They are 20-30 in Quad 1 games under Hubert Davis, and they are 2-17 in Quad 1 games in the 2022-23, and the 2024-25 seasons combined. Forget what that means for UNC’s NCAA Tournament standing, that 20-30 mark is not the standard at North Carolina, something that has been said far too often under Hubert Davis 

  5. Struggles Against Pitt Continue: After sweeping Pittsburgh last season, last night marked the fourth time that Carolina has lost to Pittsburgh since Hubert Davis took over the program, giving Jeff Capel the most wins against UNC in that timespan. They’ll have a chance to even the season series on February 8th, in a game that’ll have just as big of NCAA Tournament ramifications as last night’s contest did.

Up Next: Carolina travels to Durham on Saturday night, as the greatest rivalry in sports renews itself in Cameron Indoor Stadium. College GameDay will be on hand for the game, with a tip time set for 6:30 PM on ESPN. 

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