By R.L. Bynum
WASHINGTON — Few teams can beat No. 4 North Carolina when RJ Davis and Armando Bacot are at their best.
They were in the second half, and Pittsburgh wasn’t up to the task.
After halftime, RJ Davis scored 19 of his 25 points and Bacot 12 of his 19 as the top-seeded Tar Heels earned their first trip to the ACC tournament championship game since 2018 with a 72–65 semifinal victory over Pittsburgh on Friday at Capital One Arena.
Carolina (27–6), which will play N.C. State (which beat Virginia 73–65 in overtime) for the title at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, is in an excellent position to earn a No. 1 seed, particularly after No. 5 Tennessee lost on Friday.
“We always talk about making impact plays, and there’s a number of ways that you can make impact plays to give our team an opportunity and a chance to win,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. ”I can go down the line with everybody that played, what they did impactfully for us to be able to pull out a win tonight.”
There were many big contributions as the Tar Heels held Pittsburgh to one basket in the last 4:23 after the Panthers tied the game at 62. But Davis and Bacot scored Carolina’s last 18 points and refused to let Pitt win.
“It was a tough game, and it got close down in the stretch,” Bacot said. “And I think me and RJ really wanted to make plays so we could win the game, and we were just excited defensively, too, because we shut them down in the end.”
As big as Davis and Bacot were, Harrison Ingram’s defense against All-ACC forward Blake Hinson was just as significant. Hinson, who came into the game averaging 18.9 points per game, tied his season-low with five points.
“Coach Davis said someone is going to have to take the challenge, and I think Harrison did a terrific job tonight guarding Hinson,” RJ Davis said. “We know how dangerous he is from three, and holding him to two field goals. I think Harrison has been phenomenal all year, but for him to go out there and make it difficult for Hinson, that was terrific.”
Harrison, who had a huge impact even on a 2-of-6 shooting night, of course, deflected.
“For us, it’s team defense,” Ingram said. “We’re the No. 1 defense in the ACC. We have a lot of good players. We play kind of smaller, so our guards get into the ball pretty well. For me it was easier to stay on Blake Hinson knowing that our guards are doing their job on the ball, Armando is doing his job in the ball screens, making it difficult for everybody else.”
Seth Trimble (five points, four assists) had another outstanding defensive game. He held freshman Pitt guard Carlton Carrington to eight second-half points after he netted 16 in the first half, which was a big reason that Trimble played 15 minutes in the second half.
UNC got the sort of physical battle it always expects from the Panthers and did a good job of matching that physicality.
“Pitt has always been a physical team and, going into this game, we knew we had to set the tone in the trenches,” said Bacot, who pulled down 11 rebounds for his 84th double-double and 16th of the season.
Ingram, Elliot Cadeau and Jalen Washington each had six points, which were the highest totals after Bacot and Davis.
Bacot said that he and Ingram discussed trying to create second-chance opportunities and get Pitt’s big men in foul trouble before the game.
“I think we did a great job of that, and I think that allowed us to have a lot of success,” said Bacot after Federiko Federiko and Guillermo Diaz Graham battled foul trouble.
Pittsburgh spotted UNC an early four-point lead, then hit three 3-pointers — two from Diaz Graham — in a 13–0 run to go up by nine in the first 7½ minutes, as UNC went nearly five minutes without a point.
RJ Davis scored his first points on a layup as UNC scored six in a row to trim the lead to three. A 14–4 Carolina run gave the Heels a two-point lead with 3:46 left in the first half after two Davis free throws, but Pitt led 35–33 at halftime.
Davis finally got going with a 3-pointer after missing his first three attempts, and a 3-point play on an amazing, long bounce pass in transition from Cadeau. That ignited an 11–3 run to give UNC a four-point lead on a Davis jumper with 13:38 left, his eighth point of the run.
Jalen Washington had four points and a huge rebound in a two-minute stretch when Pitt cut the lead to three. After a 6–2 UNC run pushed the lead to seven, Pitt tied it with an 8–2 run on a Lowe jumper with 4:23 left.
Davis responded with a 3-pointer 20 seconds later, launching a 7–1 run that he capped with another 3, pushing the lead to seven with 2:24 remaining.
A Carrington 3-pointer ended a nearly 3½-minute Pitt scoring drought with 54 seconds left to cut UNC’s lead to four. But Davis put the game away with three free throws in the last 36.3 seconds.
NOTES — The last time UNC and N.C. State played in the ACC title game was 2007 in Tampa when the Tar Heels won 89–80. … It was UNC’s record 54th semifinal appearance, five more than second-place Duke. … The Tar Heels are 8-3 this season when trailing at the half (17–22 in Hubert Davis’ three seasons). … Carolina has outrebounded its last 22 opponents since Oklahoma won the rebounding battle in the Sooners’ 81–69 loss in Charlotte on Dec. 20, winning the boards against Pitt 44–34. UNC is 19–3 in those games. … UNC held Pittsburgh to 33.3% from the floor in the second half, the 35th time in 66 halves this season the opponents shot under 40%. Trimble had missed his last seven 3-point attempts before making one with 8:50 left in the first half. … UNC snapped a three-game losing streak in the ACC tournament semifinals after losing in 2019 (to Duke 74–73), 2021 (to Florida State 79–66) and 2022 (to Virginia Tech 72–59). … Carolina is 3–2 against Pitt in ACC tournament games after losing in the 2014 quarterfinals but winning in the 2016 quarterfinals in Washington. … Carolina’s second win this season over Pitt expanded its lead in the series to 17–8.
No. 4 UNC 72, Pitt 65
ACC tournament
Capital One Arena, Washington
Tuesday’s first-round results
No. 12 seed Notre Dame 84, No. 13 seed Georgia Tech 80
No. 10 seed N.C. State 94, No. 15 seed Louisville 85
No. 11 seed Boston College 81, No. 14 seed Miami 65
Wednesday’s second-round results
No. 9 seed Florida State 86, No. 8 seed Virginia Tech 76
No. 5 seed Wake Forest 72, Notre Dame 59
N.C. State 83, No. 7 seed Syracuse 65
Boston College 76, No. 6 seed Clemson 55
Thursday’s quarterfinals
No. 1 seed North Carolina 92, Florida State 67
No. 4 seed Pittsburgh 81, Wake Forest 69
N.C. State 74, No. 2 seed Duke 69
No. 3 seed Virginia 66, Boston College 60, OT
Friday’s semifinals
North Carolina 72, Pittsburgh 65
N.C. State 72, Virginia 65, OT
Saturday’s championship
N.C. State 84, North Carolina 76
| Date | Month/day | Score | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 27 | Friday | W, 117–53 | vs. St. Augustine’s | Exhibition |
| November | ||||
| 6 | Monday | W, 86–70 | vs. Radford | 1–0 |
| 12 | Sunday | W, 90–68 | vs. Lehigh | 2–0 |
| 17 | Friday | W, 77–52 | vs. UC Riverside | 3–0 |
| Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas | ||||
| 22 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | Northern Iowa | 4–0 |
| 23 | Thursday | L, 83–81, OT | Villanova | 4–1 |
| 24 | Friday | W, 87–72 | Arkansas | 5–1 |
| ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | ||||
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 100–92 | vs. No. 6 Tennessee | 6–1 |
| December | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 78–70 | vs. Florida State | 7–1, 1–0 ACC |
| Jimmy V Classic in New York | ||||
| 5 | Tuesday | L, 87–67 | No. 1 Connecticut | 7–2 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 16 | Saturday | L, 87–83 | No. 12 Kentucky | 7–3 |
| Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
| 20 | Wednesday | W, 81–69 | Oklahoma | 8–3 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 29 | Friday | W, 105–60 | vs. Charleston Southern | 9–3 |
| January | ||||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 70–57 | at Pittsburgh | 10–3, 2–0 ACC |
| 6 | Saturday | W, 65–55 | at Clemson | 11–3, 3–0 ACC |
| 10 | Wednesday | W, 67–54 | at N.C. State | 12–3, 4–0 ACC |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 103–67 | vs. Syracuse | 13–3, 5–0 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 86–70 | vs. Louisville | 14–3, 6–0 ACC |
| 20 | Saturday | W, 76–66 | vs. Boston College | 15–3, 7–0 ACC |
| 22 | Monday | W, 85–64 | vs. Wake Forest | 16–3, 8–0 ACC |
| 27 | Saturday | W, 75–68 | at Florida State | 17–3, 9–0 ACC |
| 30 | Tuesday | L, 74–73 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 9–1 ACC |
| February | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | W, 93–84 | vs. No. 13 Duke | 18–4, 10–1 ACC |
| 6 | Tuesday | L, 80–76 | vs. Clemson | 18–5, 10–2 ACC |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 75–72 | at Miami | 19–5, 11–2 ACC |
| 13 | Tuesday | L, 86–79 | at Syracuse | 19–6, 11–3 ACC |
| 17 | Saturday | W, 96–81 | vs. Virginia Tech | 20–6, 12–3 ACC |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 54–44 | at Virginia | 21–6, 13–3 ACC |
| 26 | Monday | W, 75–71 | vs. Miami | 22–6, 14–3 ACC |
| March | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 79–70 | vs. N.C. State | 23–6, 15–3 ACC |
| 5 | Tuesday | W, 84–51 | vs. Notre Dame | 24–6, 16–3 ACC |
| 9 | Saturday | W, 84–79 | at No. 13 Duke | 25–6, 17–3 ACC |
| ACC tournament Washington | ||||
| 14 | Thursday | W, 92–67 | Quarterfinals: Florida State | 26–6 |
| 15 | Friday | W, 72–65 | Semifinals: Pittsburgh | 27–6 |
| 16 | Saturday | L, 84–76 | Final: N.C. State | 27–7 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 21 | Thursday | W, 90–62 | First round in Charlotte: Wagner | 28–7 |
| 23 | Saturday | W, 85–69 | Second round in Charlotte: Michigan State | 29–7 |
| 28 | Thursday | L, 89–87 | Sweet 16 in Los Angeles: No. 19 Alabama | 29–8 |
Photo courtesy of the ACC
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