Pitt vs. North Carolina: Open Gamethread

Duke: Attackmen Jack Bruckner and Justin Guterding combined for 10 points to lead the Blue Devils to a 16-3 victory over visiting Saint Joseph’s Saturday at Koskinen Stadium.

Mathurin called it a “nice payback for last time”, referring to North Carolina’s earlier 83-70 win over the Wolfpack in Chapel Hill on January 29.

The Tar Heels posted a decisive 74-63 win over Louisville as 7 1/2-point home favorites Wednesday, and have claimed victory by an average margin of 19.6 points during their current win streak.

Jackson shot just 29.2 percent behind the arc last season before putting a major emphasis into improving his wayward shot.

“When we key in on what we’re supposed to do”, Jackson said. “Honestly, I didn’t change anything with my shot”. “It’s not the first time this year we’ve been a little tight in the second half and don’t shoot it well”.

Kyle Datres drove in four runs and Ashton McGee had three hits in his first career start as the No. 9 Tar Heels topped Radford 9-3 Saturday at Boshamer Stadium.

“It’s great because at the end of the day you still get some hardware if you end up tying”, Berry said of clinching a share.

“It’s hard when they’re reaching over your back and getting the balls”, Pitt senior guard Chris Jones said.

Junior forward Chelsea Neslon chipped in 10 points to go with seven rebounds and four blocks. Overall, North Carolina outrebounded Pitt, 48-28. And among their losses are forgivable single-digit defeats away from home against SMU, Louisville, North Carolina and Duke. “We didn’t have that finishing mentality”, Pitt coach Kevin Stallings told reporters. “I take it from the students all of the time, and you expect it from students, but from an adult?”

“We didn’t have an answer in either spot”. UNC is averaging 85.9 points per game this season while giving up 71.1 on defense.

Bottom line, Roy Williams is the sports’ most underappreciated coach. “I didn’t want them to go out in this fashion”.

“These next three games”, Jeter said, “the resiliency we’ll show will have an impact on what our legacies are going to be”. The Panthers will be looking to avenge an earlier loss to the Tar Heels when Pitt played well on the road. Summer Price led the way with 21 points, her fifth 20-point effort of the season.

“I’ve always said this is the classiest place in college basketball, until I met a fan on the way out”, Pitino concluded. “And I like that”.

But North Carolina quickly asserted its dominance on the boards and seized a 40-28 lead at intermission while outrebounding Pitt, 21-12.

TCU (17-12, 6-10), which had tied the game on Alex Robinson‘s free throw with 9.1 seconds left, had one more chance, but Desmond Bane‘s 3-pointer at the buzzer was short. Meeks scored from the inside to make it a five-point margin with 8:06 left in the half. Chris Jones added 10 for the Panthers, who only made 19 field goals during the entire game.

North Carolina also features two prolific 3-point shooters in junior forward Justin Jackson (78) and Berry (64). Kennard holds the edge in scoring, rebounding and shooting percentage on the season, and other players – namely Wake Forest’s John Collins and Notre Dame’s Bonzie Colson – are also in the running.