At 2:00 p.m. today the No. 15 University of North Carolina Tar Heels (23-8, 13-5 ACC) will try to make a run in the conference tourney and improve their projected seed in the NCAA Tournament by knocking off the Pittsburgh Panthers (24-8, 11-7 ACC) for the second time this season. Watch the game on ESPN2 or live stream it free here. Tar Heels fans can hear the game on News Talk 1110 WBT, while Pitt fans can find the radio broadcast on 93.7 The Fan.
UNC tends to do well in the ACC Tournament, having reached the championship game in three straight seasons. The problem has been that they can't get over the hump. "I definitely remember being 0-3 and 1-4 (in the league), and that feeling is not going through this locker room," point guard Marcus Paige said. "We know we still have a chance to make some noise later on, and this isn't going to change that."
Their victory over Pitt earlier this season was a turning point of sorts for a UNC group that to that point had suffered some traumatic losses and began ACC play 1-4. They eventually ripped off a 12-game winning streak in the ACC before dropping the regular season finale to Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium. "I think at the end of the day, it just came down to our want-to against their want-to, and it just wasn't there -- the sense of urgency," said forward James Michael McAdoo.
When these two teams last squared off, Pitt was able to match the Heels' physicality, going board-for-board with them and fighting to a 40-to-40 draw on the glass. Their star Lamar Patterson couldn't find his stroke though, and turnovers did the Panthers in. They will hope to build on a beating of Wake Forest in the ACC opener and advance today.
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
