By R.L. Bynum
Pittsburgh (9–16, 2–10) at No. 11 North Carolina (19–5, 7–4)
When: 2 p.m. Saturday
Where: Smith Center
TV: ESPN: Kevin Brown play-by-play, Randolph Childress analyst
Radio: Tar Heel Sports Network (affiliates list; streams on the Varsity Network app); Jones Angell play-by-play, Tyler Zeller analyst
Coaches: Jeff Capel III (284–227 in 17th season; 123–122 in 8th season at Pittsburgh) and Hubert Davis (120–50 overall and 64–28 in the ACC in fifth season, all at UNC; was 228–95 in nine seasons as a UNC assistant coach)
Series: UNC leads 18–9 (see list below), including 7–3 in the Smith Center; UNC has won three of the last four after losing the previous three. After Pitt won the first meeting in the 1941 NCAA tournament on its way to the Final Four, UNC won eight consecutive meetings over a 73-season period.
Quad designation: Pittsburgh’s NET ranking is 124, making this UNC’s final regular-season Quad 3 game.
Common opponents (current ranks):
— Both beat Ohio State: Pittsburgh 67–66 at home on Nov. 28, UNC 71–70 in Atlanta on Dec. 20
— Both lost at Miami: Pittsburgh 76–69 on Dec. 30, UNC 75–66 on Tuesday
— Both played Syracuse at home: Pittsburgh lost 83–72 on Jan. 10, UNC won 87–77 on Feb. 2.
— Both won at Georgia Tech: Pittsburgh 89–66 on Jan. 14, UNC 91–75 on Jan. 31
— Both beat Wake Forest at home: UNC 87–84 on Jan. 10, Pittsburgh 80–76 in overtime on Jan. 27.
— Both played at No. 15 Virginia: UNC won 85–80 on Jan. 24, Pittsburgh lost 67–47 on Feb. 3
— Both lost to SMU: UNC 97–83 on the road on Jan. 3, Pittsburgh 86–67 at home on Feb. 7
— Both played No. 4 Duke at home: UNC won 71–68 on Saturday, Pittsburgh lost 70–54 on Tuesday
Pittsburgh resume
— 124 NET ranking
— 0–9 in Quad 1 games: home losses to Duke, Louisville and N.C. State; road losses to Virginia, Villanova, Clemson, Miami and West Virginia; neutral-site loss to UCF
— 2–4 in Quad 2 games: home wins over Ohio State and Wake Forest; home losses to Clemson, SMU, Texas A&M and Syracuse
— 2–2 in Quad 3 games: road win over Georgia Tech; neutral-site win vs. Penn State; home loss to Hofstra; road loss to Boston College
— 5–1 in Quad 4 games: All at home, loss vs. Quinnipiac; wins vs. Eastern Michigan, Youngstown State, Longwood, Bucknell and Binghamton
— 0–3 against teams currently ranked
Usual Pittsburgh starting lineup
No. 3 | F | Cameron Corhen | 6–10, 235 | senior | Florida State transfer in second season at Pitt
— 12.0 points, team-high 52.0 FG%, 32.1 3P%, 62.8 FT%, 7.2 rebounds; totals of 42 assists, 56 turnovers, 14 blocks, 23 steals
— Scored career-high 26 points for Florida State at Pittsburgh on March 5, 2024
— Season-high is 23 points on Nov. 3 against Youngstown State, when he had 12 rebounds in one of six double-doubles this season
— Season-high in ACC play is 17 points at Miami on Dec. 30
— Has team-high six double-doubles
No. 22 | W | Barry Dunning Jr. | 6–6, 195 | senior | South Alabama transfer
— 11.7 points, 45.7 FG%, 31.7 3P%, 75.4 FT%, 5.5 rebounds; totals 18 assists, 27 turnovers, team-leading 21 blocks, 17 steals
— Pitt is his fourth school after playing freshman season at Arkansas, sophomore season at UAB and junior season at South Alabama
— Career-high is 46 points for South Alabama last season on Feb. 22 at Texas State, when he scored a career-high nine 3-pointers and a career-high 13 field goals on 20 shots while making all 11 free-throw attempts
—Scored season-high 23 points on Nov. 17 against Bucknell (highlights below) and Dec. 17 against Binghamton
—ACC season-high is 17 points on Jan. 14 at Georgia Tech and Tuesday against Duke.
No. 13 | F | Roman Siulepa (pronounced “see-uh-LEPP-uh”) | 6–6, 220 | freshman
— 10.1 points, 46.4 FG%, 31.2 3P%, 49.3 FT%, 5.5 rebounds; totals of 24 assists, 24 turnovers, 15 blocks, 26 steals
— Best game was against Penn State on Dec. 21 when he scored season-highs of 28 points and five 3-pointers
— All three of his double-doubles have come in ACC play, Jan. 21 at Boston College (13 points, 11 rebounds), Jan. 24 vs. N.C. State (15 points, 13 rebounds) and Jan. 27 vs. Wake Forest (15 points, 13 rebounds)
— Has at least two offensive rebounds in seven straight games
No. 7 | PG | Damarco Minor | 6–0, 190 | senior | Oregon State transfer
— 9.3 points, 40.6 FG%, team-leading 35.9 3P%, team-high 91.1 FT%, 3.7 rebounds; totals of 88 assists, 38 turnovers, team-leading 36 steals
— Played freshman season at a junior college, leading South Suburban College to the NJCAA Division II national title with a 33–0 record, named NJCAA Division II Player of the Year; averaged 20.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.3 steals
— Played sophomore and junior seasons at SIU Edwardsville, and last season at Oregon State
— NCAA career-high is 32 points for SIU Edwardsville against UT Martin on March 2, 2023.
— Scored season-high 23 points on Nov. 7 against Longwood and an ACC-season-high 17 points against Clemson
— Scored 18 points and hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to beat Ohio State (highlight below) on Nov. 28.
No. 8 | G | Omari Witherspoon | 6–4, 190 | freshman
— 6.9 points, team-high 72.5 FG%, 51.9 FT%, team-high 9.6 rebounds (2nd in ACC); totals of 8 assists, 11 turnovers, team-high 27 blocks (1.3 per game; 10th in ACC), 20 steals
— Scored season-high 15 points against Eastern Michigan on Nov. 10 and Penn State on Dec. 21, and an ACC-season-high 14 points against Clemson
— Has at least three assists and at least one steal in the last three games
More on Tar Heels
— Wilson out with fracture in left hand
— Where does UNC go from here while playing without Wilson?
— UNC rises to season-high rank in AP Top 25
—Repeated slow starts, answers to fix that, confounding Tar Heels
— Tar Heels blow most of NET gains from Duke win at Miami
— Heels can’t match Miami’s energy, falter on defense, rebounding
UNC’s keys to the game
Start fast on offense — UNC needs to fix its recent trend of slow starts, and this is the perfect game to get that done. Pitt likes to control tempo, so Carolina needs to push pace early to get easy buckets, and set the tone before Pitt’s defense settles in. If this turns into a slow, half-court slugfest, Pitt is comfortable. UNC needs to run, move the ball, and keep the game flowing.
Win the guard battle — Pitt usually plays physical and disciplined on the perimeter. UNC’s guards have to take care of the ball, make smart reads and create good shots to open up space inside for Henri Veesaar, which will be hard to do without Caleb Wilson.
Rebound like the program typically does — This is always a trademark, but this team has fallen short in many games, and that will be even more of a challenge without Wilson. If UNC dominates the glass, especially offensive rebounds, it creates extra possessions and breaks Pitt’s rhythm.
Defend without fouling — Pitt thrives when opponents get into foul trouble. UNC has to stay solid defensively, contest shots and avoid gifting free throws. Pittsburgh is 5–1 when it attempts at least 23 free throws, including a win against Wake Forest.
Pittsburgh statistical ranks
| ACC rank (national rank) | Statistic | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 3rd (75th) | Offensive rebounding | 12.3 |
| 8th (115th) | Scoring defense | 71.5 |
| 9th (137th) | Rebounding margin | +2.3 |
| 13th (147th) | 3-pointers/game | 8.2 |
| 15th (288th) | Field goal percentage | 43.2% |
| 15th (221st_ | Assist-to-turnover ratio | 1.15 |
| 16th (239th) | 3P% | 33.0% |
| 16th (347th) | FT% | 66.1% |
| 16th (232nd) | Rebounding | 34.8 |
| 16th (226th) | Turnover margin | -0.36 |
| 17th (309th) | Scoring offense | 70.1 |
| 17th (260th) | Scoring margin | -1.4 |
| 17th (284th) | FG% defense | 46.0% |
| 18th (286th) | 3P% defense | 35.4% |
| 18th (318th) | Defensive rebounding | 22.5 |
Notes
— Carolina gets its first taste of what life will be like without Caleb Wilson, for however long that lasts, after he fractured his left hand in the loss at Miami. Read more about what that means for the Tar Heels here.
— Hubert Davis will start this sixth variation on the starting lineup after Wilson started the first 24 games.
— Pittsburgh is also without its leading scorer, sophomore guard Brandin Cummings. He hasn’t played since Jan. 27, has missed the last three games and could miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury, Pitt coach Jeff Capel said on Monday. In 19 games and nine starts, he averaged 12.5 points while making 32.6% of his 3-point attempts. He is the only Panther listed among the ACC leaders in any statistical category. His 71.8% free-throw shooting percentage is 25th in the league.
— Pittsburgh has started Cameron Corhen, Barry Dunning Jr., Damarco Minor, Roman Siulepa and Omari Witherspoon with Cummings out. The Panthers are 2–9 with that starting lineup.
— The Panthers lost several major rotation players from last season. Graduation losses included guards Ishmael Leggett and Damian Dunn and forward Zack Austin. Five players transferred: guard Jaland Lowe to Kentucky, forward Marlon Barnes Jr. to Evansville, wing Amsal Delalić to DePaul, forward Guillermo Diaz Graham to San Francisco and forward Jorge Diaz Graham to Oregon State.
— Four of Pitt’s ACC losses came after being in those games late. In the 76–68 loss at Miami on Dec. 30, the game was tied at 60 with six minutes left. In the 83–68 home loss to Clemson on Jan. 3, Pitt trailed by three with 4:35 left. Pitt lost at Boston College on Jan. 21 65–62. In the 81–72 Jan. 24 home loss to N.C. State, Pitt trailed by three with six minutes left.
— Even after 11 turnovers at Miami, UNC’s average of 9.5 per game is better than the school full-season record of 10.08 by the 2023–24 team.
— UNC has allowed an average of 66.9 points in its 19 wins and 85.0 points in its five losses.
— Former UNC forward Drake Powell, a rookie with the Brooklyn Nets, had his No. 32 retired at Northwood High School on Thursday.
UNC season statistics
All games
ACC games
Pittsburgh season statistics
All games
ACC games
Statistical comparison
All games/ACC games
| Category | UNC | Pitt |
| NET ranking | 25 | 124 |
| Points per game | 81.9/82.5 | 70.1/65.9 |
| Scoring defense | 70.7/79.1 | 71.5/75.5 |
| Scoring margin | +11.2/+3.4 | -1.4/-9.6 |
| FG% | 47.7/47.8 | 43.2/40.7 |
| 3P FG % | 34.4/35.4 | 33.0/29.1 |
| 3P per game | 8.7/8.9 | 8.2/7.7 |
| FT% | 68.8/69.4 | 66.1/63.1 |
| FG% defense | 40.8/46.2 | 46.0/49.7 |
| 3FG% defense | 33.9/40.2 | 35.4/37.0 |
| Opponent 3P/game | 7.9/9.9 | 7.7/8.5 |
| Rebounds per game | 39.3/35.6 | 34.8/33.3 |
| Offensive rebounds/game | 11.3/10.3 | 12.3/12.5 |
| Rebounding margin | +5.1/+1.0 | +2.3/-0.6 |
| Assists per game | 16.8/16.3 | 13.0/12.8 |
| Turnovers per game | 9.5/8.8 | 11.3/11.1 |
| Assist-to-turnover ratio | 1.8/1.8 | 1.2/1.2 |
| Turnovers forced/game | 9.6/9.5 | 11.0/10.9 |
KenPom comparison
| Category | UNC | Pitt |
| Overall ranking | 28 | 109 |
| Offensive efficiency | 122.4 (24) | 112.1 (115) |
| Defensive efficiency | 100.6 (45) | 106.1 (120) |
| Possession length | 16.4 (65) | 19.4 (350) |
| Effective FG% | 54.9 (49) | 50.3 (217) |
| Turnover % | 13.7 (16) | 17.4 (206) |
| Offensive rebound % | 32.6 (112) | 34.2 (70) |
| FTA/FGA | 38.7 (97) | 30.3 (309) |
| 3FGA/FGA | 41.9 (135) | 43.0 (110) |
| Assist/FG% | 58.7 (51) | 51.9 (199) |
| Strength of schedule | 55 | 41 |
Series: UNC 18, Pittsburgh 9
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 4 Duke | 11–1 | 22–2 | 3 |
| No. 15 Virginia | 10–2 | 21–3 | 18 |
| No. 20 Clemson | 10–2 | 20–5 | 33 |
| N.C. State | 9–3 | 18–7 | 29 |
| Miami | 8–3 | 19–5 | 36 |
| No. 24 Louisville | 8–4 | 18–6 | 14 |
| No. 11 North Carolina | 7–4 | 19–5 | 25 |
| SMU | 6–5 | 17–7 | 34 |
| Virginia Tech | 6–6 | 17–8 | 50 |
| California | 5–7 | 17–8 | 63 |
| Syracuse | 5–7 | 14–11 | 68 |
| Stanford | 5–7 | 16–9 | 69 |
| Florida State | 4–7 | 11–13 | 95 |
| Wake Forest | 3–8 | 12–12 | 66 |
| Boston College | 2–9 | 9–15 | 150 |
| Georgia Tech | 2–10 | 11–14 | 158 |
| Notre Dame | 2–10 | 11–14 | 88 |
| Pittsburgh | 2–10 | 9–16 | 124 |
* — Through Thursday games
Tuesday’s results
Miami 75, No. 11 North Carolina 66
No. 15 Virginia 61, Florida State 58
SMU 89, Notre Dame 81
No. 4 Duke 70, Pittsburgh 54
Wednesday’s results
Virginia Tech 76, No. 20 Clemson 66
Syracuse 107, California 100, 2 OTs
Wake Forest 83, Georgia Tech 67
Stanford 70, Boston College 64
Saturday’s games
No. 20 Clemson at No. 4 Duke, noon, ESPN
Georgia Tech at Notre Dame, noon, The CW
California at Boston College, noon, ACC Network
Pittsburgh at No. 11 North Carolina, 2 p.m., ESPN
Florida State at Virginia Tech, 2 p.m., ACC Network
SMU at Syracuse, 2 p.m., The CW
No. 24 Louisville vs. Baylor in Fort Worth, Texas, 4 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2
Stanford at Wake Forest, 4 p.m., ACC Network
Miami at N.C. State, 4 p.m., ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU
No. 15 Virginia vs. Ohio State in Nashville, 8 p.m., Fox
Monday’s game
Syracuse at No. 4 Duke, 7 p.m., ESPN
Tuesday’s games
Boston College at Florida State, 6 p.m., ACC Network
No. 11 North Carolina at N.C. State, 7 p.m., ESPN
No. 24 Louisville at SMU, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Virginia Tech at Miami, 8 p.m., ACC Network
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. No. 22 BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. No. 9 Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 10 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at No. 25 Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 97–83 | at SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 14 | Wednesday | L, 95–90 | at Stanford | 14–3, 2–2 |
| 17 | Saturday | L, 84–78 | at California | 14–4, 2–3 |
| 21 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | vs. Notre Dame | 15–4, 3–3 |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 85–80 | at No. 15 Virginia | 16–4, 4–3 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 91–75 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 5–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 87–77 | vs. Syracuse | 18–4, 6–3 |
| 7 | Saturday | W, 71–68 | vs. No. 4 Duke | 19–4, 7–3 |
| 10 | Tuesday | L, 75–66 | at Miami | 19–5, 7–4 |
| 14 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | vs. Pittsburgh | ESPN |
| 17 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at N.C. State | ESPN |
| 21 | Saturday | 1 p.m. | at Syracuse | ABC |
| 23 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 24 Louisville | ESPN |
| 28 | Saturday | 6:30 or 8:30 | vs. Virginia Tech | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 20 Clemson | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | at No. 4 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo via pittsburghpanthers.com
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