North Carolina, manhandled on the boards, fell behind by 20 points and despite a frantic comeback that cut the margin to three late, the Tar Heels fell to Pittsburgh in the ACC quarterfinals 80-75.

The Tar Heels never led and were already down by double digits midway through the first half. With six minutes left in the half, the Heels had managed just three baskets in 19 tries and trailed 27-9.

UNC Coach Roy Williams said his team just got too far behind too quickly. “They got to the backboards and they got to the loose balls,” he said, adding that Pitt played with a bigger sense of urgency, harkening back to a problem the Heels had before their 12-game win streak.

An 11-5 run over the last three minutes cut the halftime margin to 10 at 39-29 but Carolina started the second half much the way it started the first.

An 11-2 Pittsburgh run in the first eight minutes sealed Carolina’s fate as the Panthers extended the lead the lead to 50-31.

The lead extended to 20 at 61-41 with just 7:22 left.

The Tar Heels fought back as Marcus Paige, who led all scorers with 27 points, finally got hot from behind the three-point line but, despite getting the margin down to three with 11 seconds left, couldn’t overcome Pitt.

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