MBB Grinds Past Panthers, 67-66

Saturday, February 8

Chapel Hill

4 PM

North Carolina

14-10,7-5ACC

Pittsburgh

14-9,5-7ACC

Pittsburgh

North Carolina

RJ Davis

Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI

February 8, 2025 | Men's Basketball

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By: Matt Bowers

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—North Carolina survived a frantic final minute and held on to edge Pittsburgh, 67-66, on Saturday afternoon at the Smith Center.

After Ven-Allen Lubin and Seth Trimble missed the front end of two one-and-one opportunities in the final 20 seconds with UNC leading by a point, Trimble dove twice for loose balls after his missed free throw, helping run down the clock and limit the Panthers' opportunities to retake the lead.

Pitt had an opportunity with a final shot attempt in the lane in the closing seconds but could not convert.

""I was mad at myself for missing the free throw, but I just wanted to win the game," Trimble said. "We have been in these situations. We've lost them in these same exact situations. We know what it takes, but you just know you wanna win these types of dirty, grimy games. You have to make that extra effort."

Carolina improved to 14-10 overall and 7-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference with the victory, beating the Panthers less than two weeks after Pitt had defeated UNC in Pittsburgh. UNC is 18-9 all-time against the Panthers, including 8-3 in Chapel Hill.

Pitt dropped its third game in a row and its seventh in nine games, falling to 14-9, 5-7 ACC.

"I think you should play like that every day, every possession, whether it's shoot around, practice, game," UNC head coach Hubert Davis said of the late-game intensity. "It's not a sense of urgency. It's a sense of emergency."

"We were just saying, just to get a stop, talk and communicate," RJ Davis said. "HD [Hubert Davis] was like, 'We're gonna get the stop right now. They're not gonna score.' And that was our mindset going into that last possession with 13 seconds left."

Lubin scored nine of Carolina's first 12 points and finished with a season-high 17 on 8 of 12 shooting. It was his fifth game in double-figures this season and his second in ACC play (he had 13 against Stanford).

RJ Davis led all scorers with 18 points, hitting three of five three-point attempts. He's made at least three from long range nine times this season, including four of the last six games.

Trimble had 15 points and a game-high seven rebounds, hitting a pair of three-pointers for his first game with multiple three-pointers since the loss in Maui to Auburn on November 26. Drake Powell scored 10 on 4 of 8 shooting with three steals. Elliot Cadeau scored five points, all in the second half, and had a game-high seven assists.

Saturday marked the second time in ACC play this season the Tar Heels have posted four or more double-figure scorers after having had five in the overtime win over Boston College two weeks ago.

It was Carolina's 10th one-possession game of the season, the most in any Tar Heel season since the three-point era began in 1986-87. UNC is 6-4 in those one-possession games. The contest was within five points at the 5:00 mark in the second half, the 12th time in 24 games this season that has occurred.

"It's something we can use to get ourselves rolling," Lubin said. "Especially since we have a quick turnaround for Clemson on Monday, it gets us on the right path. We just have to go straight ahead and move forward."

How It Happened
First Half
• For the fourth consecutive game, the Tar Heels started a four-guard lineup of Elliot Cadeau, RJ Davis, Seth Trimble, Ian Jackson and Lubin.
• After Pitt took a 3-0 lead to start the game, Carolina ripped off a 12-0 run to take a 12-3 lead.
• Lubin scored nine of UNC's first 12 points, and Jackson had tied his season high with three assists by the first media timeout.
• UNC had six assists on its first six buckets as a team and finished with 7 on 14 first-half field goals.
• Carolina hit 8 of its first 9 and 11 of its first 14 shots to start the game, including its first three three-point attempts.
• The Tar Heels eventually cooled off slightly and finished shooting 48.3 percent from the field before halftime, going nearly five minutes of game time without a point in one stretch late in the half. Carolina missed 9 of its last 10 shots.
• After UNC had matched its largest lead at 30-19 with 6:41 left before the break, the Panthers used a 13-2 run to claw back in it and tie the score at 32 with the final 90 seconds.

Second Half
• Lubin picked up his third foul just 29 seconds into the second half, then the officials whistled him for his fourth foul with 12:31 remaining and UNC leading, 47-44.
• Carolina hit a dry spell, missing eight consecutive shots and not hitting a field goal for a stretch of over six minutes. But the Panthers couldn't take advantage, leaving the score tied at 51 with just over nine minutes to play.
• Lubin gave UNC the lead at 65-65 with 2:57 to go on a layup that gave him 16 points.
• Davis gave Carolina the lead with a tough jumper from the free throw line as the shot clock was running out, making the score 67-66 with 51 seconds to go.
• Lubin missed a free throw with 19 seconds remaining but dove for the rebound and knocked the ball off a Panther player to give Carolina the ball back with 18.3 ticks left on the clock.
• Trimble missed the front end of a one-and-one, giving the ball back to Pitt with 13.5 to go and UNC holding a 67-66 advantage.
• Trimble redeemed himself by diving for a loose ball on the ensuing inbounds pass and knocking it out of bounds, taking the clock down to 7.3 seconds for Pitt.

Up Next
Carolina has a quick turnaround and will play at Clemson on Monday night at 7 p.m.