UNC Basketball: Kerwin Walton provides spark off the bench

When the score got ugly, it was Kerwin Walton who single-handedly kept the UNC basketball program in the game against Pittsburgh.

The UNC basketball program put together yet another underwhelming performance on Wednesday night, as they suffered a devastating loss to Pittsburgh at home.

Not only was it a game that the Tar Heels needed to win, but it’s now a loss that has them trending toward not making the NCAA tournament at all. After the way North Carolina came out for this game, it really makes you question if this team is even deserving of earning a bid for the big dance.

If you weathered the storm and watched the game in its entirety, you saw that it took about 30 minutes for the Tar Heels to actually compete. In fact, the Tar Heels were down by 21 at one point… at home… against a team that is now just 6-10 in ACC play!

Simply brutal.

However, let’s get away from the negatives for a bit and take a moment to acknowledge sophomore Kerwin Walton, who single-handedly kept the Tar Heels in within striking distance of the Panthers.

Trailing 59-38 with just over nine minutes remaining, it looked as if the game was fully out of reach. However, Walton went on a scoring streak to creep the Tar Heels back into it.

His streak started with a jumper with 8:24 left in regulation. About a minute later, Walton showed his range, draining a three-pointer, and then proceeded to steal the basketball on the other side of the floor. In transition, Walton drained another three, capping an individual 8-0 run and forcing Pittsburgh to take a timeout.

This stretch cut the Panthers’ lead to just 13 and gave the Tar Heels a glimmer of hope that they could get back into it. North Carolina did cut the lead to single-digits, but their comeback effort came up short.

Walton finished the game with 11 points over 18 minutes off the bench. He did most of his offensive damage beyond the arc, as he drained three of his four three-point attempts.

Are we starting to see a version of Kerwin Walton that we saw during the 2020-21 season? For the Tar Heels, it would definitely be a nice boost for them down the stretch.

Over his last three games, the Hopkins, Minnesota native has scored 27 points while shooting over 50 percent from the floor. To put this into perspective, Walton scored just 28 points over the nine previous games, including three contests in which he didn’t score at all.

Of course, this year’s team has a lot more offensive weapons to work with than a season ago. This has impacted Walton a lot, as he is a guy whose skill set revolves primarily around his shooting ability.

Especially with the inconsistency of Caleb Love and R.J. Davis, it would be nice to see Hubert Davis and his staff find ways to get Walton involved more offensively. If the Pittsburgh game is any indication, we saw just how quickly Kerwin Walton can impact a basketball game for the UNC hoops program.

For the first time this season, Kerwin Walton earns our “Tar Heel of the Game” award. Check back on Saturday to find out which Tar Heel takes home the award for their road matchup against Virginia Tech.

Continue to follow the Keeping It Heel team for all the latest news and updates regarding Kerwin Walton and the UNC basketball program.