Panthers Can’t Keep Up with Tar Heels in ACC Tournament

WASHINGTON— Pitt’s ACC Tournament run ended at the hand of top seed North Carolina. It was a tight contest for most of the game, but the Tar Heels ran away with it late winning 88-71.

Recap:

Panther head coach, Jamie Dixon, changed up his starting lineup to include Cameron Johnson at the shooting guard position, instead of Chris Jones. Johnson was coming off a career high 24 points against Syracuse on Wednesday.

Pitt’s offense was flowing early with Jamel Artis scoring the first eight points of the game by either team. The Tar Heels battled back to take the 15 to 14 advantage with 12 minutes still to play. They would lead by as much as four, until Pitt made their push before halftime to go up by seven with four minutes to play.

The half ended on a bad note, as North Carolina went on a 10-0 run to close out the first frame.

The second half showcased a Pitt team not willing to give up and a North Carolina team playing their best basketball of the season. The Panthers would trail by around two to six points for the first ten minutes of action; Jamel Artis and Michael Young were the driving force behind keeping Pitt in the game. Unfortunately, the Tar Heels had too much firepower and after Joel Berry’s three with 10 minutes left they pushed their advantage from four to seven. A seven-point deficit with less than ten minutes to play proved to be the nail in the coffin. The Tar Heels would close out the game outscoring Pitt 26 to 16 en route to a comfortable 17-point win.

The Panthers were headlined by their frontcourt; they combined to score 51 of the team’s 71 total points. Artis and Young had 19 points each, while Sheldon Jeter put up 13.

 

Offensive Grade: C

Pitt’s offense had occasions of great execution, which resulted in easy buckets for them. However, the pressure defense of North Carolina did fluster James Robinson and destroyed the flow of the offense. That pressure directly led to Pitt having 12 turnovers compared to just 11 assists. The grade would have been worse, but the offense did show solid signs for much of the game.

Defensive Grade: C

Jamie Dixon’s defensive approach was a solid, collapse in on post in and force them to shoot threes. However, when North Carolina is hitting from deep they are all but unbeatable. It is hard to knock Pitt down too many grades, because UNC just hit shots and you can’t take away everything.

Coaching Grade: B

Jamie Dixon started Cameron Johnson and it was a great move, even though he did not shoot well. Johnson provides length and shooting ability that Chris Jones or Sterling Smith does not. As well, the defensive game plan was good unfortunately North Carolina was better.

Up Next:

Hopefully an NCAA tournament game.