Pitt Sees Losing Streak Continue After Blow Out Loss to Short-handed North Carolina
A week ago, the outlook on paper for Pitt (9-17, 2-11) in its game at No. 11 North Carolina (20-5, 8-4) was bleak as the Tar Heels have one of the best freshman in all of college basketball and a seven-footer that is a threat to every team that they play.
That all changed when the Tar Heels lost their future lottery pick Caleb Wilson (19.8 PPG, 9.4 RPG) due to a fracture in his hand on Tuesday, and then learned that their big-man Henri Veesaar (16.4 PPG, 9.0 RPG) would also miss the game due to an illness.
Despite that, the Panthers have been impacted by injuries all season and were unsure if starting point guard Damarco Minor would be available for the game as he and his girlfriend welcomed in a child less than 24 hours prior to tipoff.
While the Panthers were fortunate that Minor made it to Chapel Hill in time for the game, and the Tar Heels were without two of their three double-digit scorers, the top-25 team flexed its depth and routed the Panthers at the Dean Center, 79-65.
North Carolina set the tone as it jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead before Cam Corhen got Pitt onto the board with a rare three-pointer. Despite Corhen making just nine triples coming into the game, his shooting ability was the only reason that the Panthers stuck around for as long as they did.
The Tar Heels eventually led 16-5 before Corhen nailed his second three of the game, and he followed it up with another just a possession later though he and the Panthers continued to watch the Tar Heels’ lead grow due to them starting the game 8-of-8 and 10-of-12 from the field.
Corhen scored 13 of the Panthers’ first 17 points but were down 26-17 by that point.
A set of free throws from Seth Trimble just before the under-four timeout gave the Tar Heels a 12-point advantage with the score being 38-26 before Corhen’s last bucket of the half got it back to a 10-point game though it was extended to 14 points by halftime.
Pitt scored the first bucket of the second half which cut the score to 46-34 but North Carolina showed no signs of slowing down a layup by Trimble at the 13:41 mark of the second half gave the Tar Heels a 20-point lead.
The Panthers tried to make a run around the under-12 timeout and scored seven-straight points but even then, they still found themselves down by the score of 62-48. The Tar Heels immediately humbled the Panthers and one-upped the 7-0 run with an 8-0 run that gave them a 22-point lead, the largest lead of the game.
The Panthers managed to outscore the Tar Heels 17-9 over the remaining eight minutes of the game but even with Corhen matching his season high with 23 points, the Panthers dropped their fifth-straight game and seventh ACC game by double digits including each of the last five.
Pitt will return to the Pete on Saturday afternoon for its second-to-last home game of the season as the Panthers host Notre Dame. According to ESPN, the game against the Fighting Irish is just one of two remaining games that the Panthers have above a 50% chance to win.
