By Miguel Mike Medina
Photo: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Another failed close-out game by the UNC Tar Heels as they fell to the Pittsburgh Panthers, 73-65 on Tuesday.
It was a back-and-forth game between both teams. The Panthers ended the game on a 14-2 run. The Tar Heels are now 13-9 on the season.
The Tar Heels played with more energy against the Panthers compared to Boston College. UNC was outstanding on offense in the first 15 minutes of the game but failed to close out the first half as they let the Panthers get back in the game.
Panthers cut the lead from 10 to 2 in three Panthers possessions.
In the second half, the Tar Heels went through a stretch of missing eight of their last 10 field goals. They didn’t make a three-point shot until the 9:00 mark.
The Tar Heels had another moment where they went scoreless for three straight minutes.
“The turnovers were costly,” coach Hubert Davis said. “The timing of turnovers was costly. The conversion of the turnovers is almost a pick-six. Every time you turn the ball over, you’re scoring. So it’s very difficult to withstand something like that.”
One of the issues for the Tar Heels in this game was the overdribbled. Too much dribbling around especially in the second half, lack of ball movement and rebounding.
“We overdribbled a lot throughout the game,” Seth Trimble said. “I had a lot of silly turnovers, which Pitt executed on that.”
Tar Heels continue to have trouble hanging on to leads. What can the Tar Heels do to make the bleeding stop?
“Continue to watch the film,” Trimble said. “Continue to hear what our coaches are telling us because what they’re telling us can translate to the game come crunch time or whatnot. We can win these games, but I don’t know. Maybe there’s just a barrier with us right now.”
Tar Heel’s next game will not get easier as they will take on their bigger rival, Duke Blue Devils, on Saturday.
Miguel Mike Medina is the publisher of The MMM Journal. He can be reached at medinamiguelmike@gmail.com and themmmjournal@gmail.com
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