Nothing came easy for a North Carolina team that missed its first 10 shots of the game but the Tar Heels opened up a close game at the end, grinding out a 70-57 victory at Pittsburgh. (1\/2)<\/p>\n
Carolina had lost three straight to Pitt and that fact had to be on Tar Heel fans’ minds when the Panthers got out to a 14-7 lead. But the Heels went on an 8-0 run to take their first lead of the game at 15-14 when Cormac Ryan hit a long two on an inbounds pass.<\/p>\n
The game went back and forth with RJ Davis hitting a three at the first half buzzer to give UNC a 31-28 lead at the break.<\/p>\n
After Davis drilled another three in the first minute of the second half, the Heels took a six-point lead. Pittsburgh, which shot only 31 percent from the floor, never got closer than four points the rest of the way.<\/p>\n
But Carolina couldn’t pull away either as the Heels led just 51-46 with eight minutes to play in the game. A Jae’Lyn Withers left-handed dunk follow and a Harrison Ingram driving lay in got the Tar Heels back up by double figures at 57-47 with less than six minutes to go.<\/p>\n
Pitt scored four straight before Ingram, who had a woeful shooting night, connected on a three from the right wing, and Seth Trimble passed to Armando Bacot for a basket to make things more comfortable for Carolina at 62-51 with 3:41 to play.<\/p>\n
It never got closer than 10 the rest of the way as Carolina got up by as many as 14 points after a fastbreak dunk by Bacot.<\/p>\n
Carolina, which shot just 37 percent, relied on its defense to win the game against a physical Pittburgh squad. “The guys fought hard,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “Our guys outbounded Pitt and they are the best rebounding team in our conference.”<\/p>\n
The Tar Heels had a 51-41 edge on the boards to help offset the slow start and poor shooting. “Defense keeps you in games when shots aren’t going in,” Coach Davis said. <\/p>\n
Bacot led Carolina with 16 points and 10 rebounds while Davis, who was just six of 16, added 15. Ryan and Trimble each added 10 points.<\/p>\n
Carlton Carrington led the Panthers with 20 points as Pittsburgh falls to 9-5 and 0-3 in the ACC.<\/p>\n
The Tar Heels, now 10-3 overall and 2-0 in the ACC, travel to Clemson Saturday for a noon tipoff.<\/p>\n