There was a question whether his UNC team, which had struggled offensively and been a modicum of inconsistency, would respond to the scare at Boston College. The answer was quite well as the Tar Heels uses several offensive bursts to knock off Pitt 85-64
From the jump it didn't look great as UNC went 0-4 on field goals before a Kennedy Meeks putback tied the game at 2-2. That launched the Tar Heels off on a 12-2 run to stake a 14-4 lead thanks for four points each from Brice Johnson and Joel Berry. The lead grew to 17-4 on a Nate Britt three. Pitt eventually responded with a 9-4 burst to cut the Tar Heel lead to six with 9:30 left. While UNC's defense forced turnovers, the Tar Heels own sloppiness manifest itself to keep the Panthers in the game.
A Marcus Paige dunk followed by a Justin Jackson's three restored the lead to double digits. Pitt made one more first half run again cutting the lead to 32-26. What followed was a classic hammer drop by UNC. UNC reeled off a 10-1 run to push the lead to 15 before a late bucket by Pitt cut the lead to 13 at the break.
The second half followed much the same pattern of the Tar Heel lead expanding and contracting. UNC pushed out to a 48-34 advantage 1:30 into the half before Pitt went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 48-41. That was as close as the Panthers would get. The Tar Heels used an 13-0 run with four different Tar Heels scoring to push the lead to 20 with 9:53 left. Following that burst, a 15-5 flurry broke Pitt's back and made it 78-52.
Brice Johnson overcame a slow start to post 19 points and seven rebounds. Marcus Paige continued to shoot the ball well hitting 3-6 from three for 15 points. Justin Jackson hit multiple threes on his way to 6-10 shooting for 14 points. He also had six assists. Joel Berry had 13 points and grabbed six rebounds(2nd on the team) with Isaiah Hicks coming off the bench for 10 points. Theo Pinson came off the bench for 7 assists making for 13 total assists out of the wing forward position.
UNC had 26 assists on 32 made baskets, was 8-15 from three with five different Tar Heels hitting from beyond the arc.
The Tar Heels move to 21-4 overall and 10-2 in the ACC with Duke coming to Chapel Hill on Wednesday.
