UNC Basketball can’t defend home court against Pittsburgh

For the second time this season, the UNC basketball program suffered a loss in a very winnable game against the Pittsburgh Panthers.

The UNC basketball program has 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, as the Tar Heels once again let a very winnable game slip right out of their fingertips.

There’s a lot that could be discussed about this game. You could start with the Tar Heels’ sloppy play, or look at how the officiating once again was in the spotlight throughout.

We’re going to start with some things that continue to hurt this program.

For starters, things got chippy once again. It seems like a common trend now for this group, as the toughness of the game clearly got to the Tar Heels. Pittsburgh wasn’t backing down from the challenge, and their toughness was on display throughout the second half.

After seven days off, it was expected that North Carolina would be a little sloppy. However, they were undisciplined at times, something that definitely hurt them.

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

That was less than RJ Davis, who was 3-15 from the floor and was clearly impacted by his injured finger.

Nonetheless, the usage of the bench continues to be mind-boggling. We saw a bit of Jalen Washington, Seth Trimble, and Tyler Nickel in the first half, but no sight of them in the second half.

However, we did see D’Marco Dunn, who had two quick first-half fouls, play in the second half, as Hubert Davis allowed him to get beat consistently by the bigger and stronger Jamarius Burton.

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

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

The strategy towards the end of the game left room to be desired as well. With a chance to extend the one-point lead, Bacot gets caught in a trap on a play that North Carolina clearly ran before. Pittsburgh was all over it, forcing the turnover while getting the chance to win the game.

This is the Tar Heels’ first loss at the Dean Smith Center since… you guessed it, last season against Pittsburgh. It’s a frustrating one for sure, as it’s a loss that has you wondering whether this group has it in them to make a strong run as we saw toward the end of last season.

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

End of story.

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