With head coach Roy Williams given another opportunity to pass Dean Smith on the all-time wins list in Chapel Hill on Wednesday night, his Tar Heels played a strong first half before letting things slip away late in a 73-65 loss to the Pittsburgh Panthers.
Instead of a celebration of their coach’s accomplishment, the season-long nightmare continued to roll on for the Tar Heels (8-7, 1-3 ACC), who led Pitt (11-4, 2-2 ACC) by as many as 14 points late in the first half.
From that point on, it all fell apart for UNC as the Panthers were able to rally behind guard Trey McGowens and capture their first ACC road win since 2017 and their first win in Chapel Hill in eight tries all-time. McGowens flirted with a triple double as he finished with a game-high 24 points to go with eight assists and six rebounds.
Senior guard Brandon Robinson was one of three Tar Heels to score in double figures in Wednesday’s loss to Pittsburgh. (Todd Melet)
On the other side, junior forward Garrison Brooks was forced to carry the bulk of the load for the Tar Heels—a formula that once again produced nothing but a disappointing result.
Brooks had 21 points and 10 rebounds–and even made his first career three-pointer–but there weren’t too many other positives to take away from this game other than freshman forward Armando Bacot breaking out of his mini slump with 15 points and nine rebounds of his own.
Brandon Robinson added 13 points and Leaky Black set a new career high with nine, however none of that scoring could help overcome the team’s real issues on offense.
Each of UNC’s four starters not named Brooks turned the ball over at least three times, while the team as a whole finished the night with 17. In addition, the Tar Heels converted on just five of their 21 attempts from three-point range.
Williams said he’s tried to make some changes to UNC’s offense recently to make getting the ball into the post a priority, but the results have yet to show on the court.
“We put in two new offenses this week,” Williams said. “Could you tell it? I couldn’t because we played just as dang bad as we did before. But we put two new offenses in to try something different. And so far it hasn’t worked.”
Williams also made headlines earlier this week when he said on his weekly radio show that this was the least talented team he’s ever coached. When pressed on his comments following Wednesday’s loss, the Hall-of-Famer didn’t back down.
Instead, he stood by what he said and even offered that he was just simply telling the truth rather than using it as some kind of motivation for his team.
As the Tar Heels continue to watch their season get worse and worse with each passing game, the biggest thing for Williams is trying to make sure his team never gets to a point where they quit on one another.
A lack of talent is one thing, but refusing to try is different. That’s the message that will likely continue to be preached for the rest of the season.
“I told them I’m mad, I’m sad, I’m ticked off—all those kind of things right now,” Williams said. “But we’re gonna come to practice, and we’re gonna try to get better. I told them if you’re gonna give in, you’re gonna go belly up, just because things aren’t going well–then you’re not the guy I recruited.”
Up Next:
The Tar Heels return to the court on Saturday, when they host Clemson at 4:30 p.m. The Tigers will be looking to win for the first time ever in Chapel Hill, having lost each of their first 59 tries.
Game Notes:
- After needing over 13 minutes to make their first shot from the field in last Saturday’s loss to Georgia Tech, the Tar Heels converted on their second opportunity against Pitt–a mid-range jumper from Garrison Brooks coming just 41 seconds into the game.
- UNC led 37-28 at halftime, and finished the game with a 42-27 edge in rebounding.
- Pittsburgh won the game despite not getting a single point from its bench players.
Cover photo via Todd Melet
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