North Carolina Opens Atlantic Coast Conference Slate At Pittsburgh

On Saturday fifteenth ranked North Carolina and Pittsburgh will get conference play underway.

North Carolina and Pittsburgh come into their Atlantic Coast Conference opener with identical records with both teams coming into the game with a record of 10-3.

As for North Carolina’s previous game, They closed out their non-conference slate with a win over Harvard.

Luke Maye scored 14 points to help No. 15 North Carolina beat Harvard 77-57 on Wednesday night. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/2/mens-basketball-tar-heels-down-harvard-to-finish-non-conference-play.aspx

Cameron Johnson and Coby White added 13 points apiece in the Tar Heels' final nonconference game of the regular season. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/2/mens-basketball-tar-heels-down-harvard-to-finish-non-conference-play.aspx

North Carolina led 44-39 early in the second half before pulling away with a 22-3 run over the next 10 minutes. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/2/mens-basketball-tar-heels-down-harvard-to-finish-non-conference-play.aspx

Harvard missed 11 consecutive shots from the floor as North Carolina extended its lead to 66-42 with 6:20 to play. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/2/mens-basketball-tar-heels-down-harvard-to-finish-non-conference-play.aspx

Nassir Little scored 12 points and Kenny Williams had 11 for the Tar Heels (10-3), who shot 42 percent. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/2/mens-basketball-tar-heels-down-harvard-to-finish-non-conference-play.aspx

Robert Baker scored 10 points for Harvard (6-6), which had 22 turnovers. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/2/mens-basketball-tar-heels-down-harvard-to-finish-non-conference-play.aspx

North Carolina led 41-31 at halftime after a 15-3 spurt late in the period. Johnson sparked the run with a layup and two 3-pointers. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/2/mens-basketball-tar-heels-down-harvard-to-finish-non-conference-play.aspx


BIG PICTURE
Harvard: The Crimson's half-court defense and rebounding were solid, but the team's season-long turnover woes persisted. Harvard had turnovers on eight of 13 possessions as the Tar Heels seized control in the first half, and the Crimson finished the period with more turnovers (12) than field goals (10). “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/2/mens-basketball-tar-heels-down-harvard-to-finish-non-conference-play.aspx

North Carolina: The Tar Heels were far from spectacular and will need to play better if they hope to contend for the Atlantic Coast Conference title. They overcame shaky perimeter shooting by beating Harvard down the court, even after made baskets by the Crimson. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/2/mens-basketball-tar-heels-down-harvard-to-finish-non-conference-play.aspx

Like North Carolina, Pittsburgh also closed out their non-conference slate with a win as they defeated Colgate on December 29th.

Five Pittsburgh players cracked double figures as the Panthers got into double digits in the win column with a 68-54 victory over Colgate on Saturday afternoon. “according to https://pittsburghpanthers.com/news/2018/12/29/mens-basketball-brown-sets-program-record-in-win-over-colgate.aspx

Pitt improved to 10-3 to close non-conference play after winning just eight games all season in 2017-18. “according to https://pittsburghpanthers.com/news/2018/12/29/mens-basketball-brown-sets-program-record-in-win-over-colgate.aspx

Freshman guard Trey McGowens led the way with 16 points, with Jared Wilson-Frame (15), Au'Diese Toney (14), Xavier Johnson (11) and Terrell Brown (10) joining him in double figures. “according to https://pittsburghpanthers.com/news/2018/12/29/mens-basketball-brown-sets-program-record-in-win-over-colgate.aspx

Brown also added nine rejections to go along with his 10 points, setting a new program record for blocks in a game. The previous school record was seven blocks. “according to https://pittsburghpanthers.com/news/2018/12/29/mens-basketball-brown-sets-program-record-in-win-over-colgate.aspx

Colgate (8-5) got out to a strong start, and led by a point with nearly seven minutes gone by in the first half. A 9-0 Pitt run over the next three minutes, sparked by seven points from Wilson-Frame, ended any hopes of a Raiders upset. Pitt went into the half with a 19-point lead and extended it in the second period. “according to https://pittsburghpanthers.com/news/2018/12/29/mens-basketball-brown-sets-program-record-in-win-over-colgate.aspx

Junior guard Will Rayman led Colgate with 10 points, eight of which came in the first half. The Raiders shot a season-low 30.0 percent from the floor. “according to https://pittsburghpanthers.com/news/2018/12/29/mens-basketball-brown-sets-program-record-in-win-over-colgate.aspx

BIG PICTURE

Colgate: Second-leading scorer Rapolas Ivanauskas, a junior forward, was held in the check by the Panthers, scoring five points, which tied a season low. Ivanauskas came into the game averaging a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds per game. “according to https://pittsburghpanthers.com/news/2018/12/29/mens-basketball-brown-sets-program-record-in-win-over-colgate.aspx

Pitt: Has been inconsistent rebounding all season. On the whole, they have a positive margin, with 466 rebounds for and 413 against entering Saturday, but there have been games where the Panthers struggled on the glass. This was one of those games, as Colgate won the battle of the boards, 50-34. “according to https://pittsburghpanthers.com/news/2018/12/29/mens-basketball-brown-sets-program-record-in-win-over-colgate.aspx

Tip-off is set for 12:00pm from Petersen Events Center. The game will be televised on Raycom Sports.