UNC Basketball can’t defend home court against Pittsburgh

For the second time this season, the UNC basketball program lost to the Pittsburgh Panthers in a very winnable game.

The UNC basketball program suffered its first home loss of the 2022-2023 season.

For the second time this season, Jeff Capel and the Pittsburgh Panthers defeated North Carolina while the Tar Heels once again let slip a very winnable game.

There’s a lot that could be discussed about this game. You could start with the sloppy game of tar heels or watch the official take the spotlight once again.

We will start with some things that continue to harm this program.

For starters, it got jagged again. It seems to be a general trend for this group now as the severity of the game has clearly hit the tar heels. Pittsburgh didn’t back down from the challenge, and their resilience showed throughout the second half.

After seven days off, North Carolina was expected to be a little lax. However, they were undisciplined at times, which definitely hurt them.

Add that to the fact that Armando Bacot, who was set to lead the team in shot attempts in every single game, had the fourth most looks tonight.

That was less than RJ Davis, who was 3-15 off the ground and clearly hit by his injured finger.

Nonetheless, the use of the bank remains amazing. We saw a little bit of Jalen Washington, Seth Trimble and Tyler Nickel in the first half, but nothing in the second half.

However, we saw D’Marco Dunn, who had two quick fouls in the first half, play in the second half as Hubert Davis allowed himself to be constantly beaten by the bigger and stronger Jamarius Burton.

We could sit here and complain about bad calls all we want, but the truth is this.

North Carolina made just ONE of his 14 second-half three-point attempts and connected just five of his 27 shots from beyond the arc. They went on to make just 13 free throw attempts out of 22, as that stat alone could have changed the outcome.

The strategy towards the end of the game also left a lot to be desired. With a chance to add a point to the lead, Bacot falls into a trap in a game that North Carolina clearly ran before. Pittsburgh was all over it, forcing the turnover while getting a chance to win the game.

This is the Tar Heels’ first loss at the Dean Smith Center since… you guessed it, against Pittsburgh last season. It’s definitely frustrating because it’s a loss that makes you wonder if this group has what it takes to put on a strong run, as we saw towards the end of last season.

The UNC basketball program needs to play better. This loss is simply inexcusable.

End of the story.

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