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Off the cuff: Carolina's opposing teams are smelling blood in the water. Teams are not only not afraid of playing the Heels in Chapel Hill, they are confident to do so.

North Carolina looked ok in the first half, with stretches of brilliance, but how do you explain Pittsburgh hitting eight threes in the second half? The Panthers averaged five per game and they got eight in a half against Carolina. Confidence.

The Tar Heels aren't scaring anybody. And why should they. Carolina doesn't shoot very well and if the opponent is scoring from beyond the arc and the Tar Heels are relying on big men to score twos, the math doesn't add up.

Some of us old timers believe that if you score more baskets and you outrebound the other team, you should generally win the game. Carolina scored two more baskets and pulled down 15 more rebounds.

But the Panthers hit four more three pointers and sank eight more free throws.

The Heels need a win quickly to give they a shot for a successful season once Cole Anthony is back healthy.

Carolina has gotten healthy as a team against Clemson in the past as the Tigers have never won in Chapel Hill. If they don't win this Saturday afternoon at Carolina, it might be a while as the incoming class next season should have more talent than most teams.

Pittsburgh 73, Tar Heels 65
Even Pittsburgh gets happy at Carolina

Pittsburgh had never won in Chapel Hill. Pittsburgh had lost 22 straight road games in the ACC. But even Pittsburgh got fat and happy after coming from nine down at the half to defeat a struggling North Carolina team 73-65. (1/8)

The Tar Heels were looking better than they had in recent games after Brandon Robinson hit a three-pointer with 3:24 left in the first half to give the home team a 32-18 lead.

Carolina still led 37-28 at the half but the Panthers dominated the Heels in the second half, hitting eight three pointers, including four in a row, to take a lead and pull away at the end.

During a four-minute period, from the 14-minute mark to the 10-minute mark, Justin Champagnie hit four straight three pointers to put Pitt up 54-53. The Panthers never trailed again.

The Tar Heels, still without point guard Cole Anthony, have lost seven of their last nine games.

"I'm mad, I'm sad, I'm ticked off but we're going to go to practice and get better," UNC coach Roy Williams said.

"When things go bad, they continue to go bad. We've got to find a way out of the rut."

Pittsburgh scored 12 points off 10 Carolina turnovers in the second half alone but the Tar Heels still had a chance, down just four on two occasions after the last TV timeout.

Late in the game, Garrison Brooks, who set Carolina records hitting 17 of 18 free throws, missed back-to-back free throws. Then Jeremiah Francis badly missed a wide-open three with 1:35 left than would have cut the lead to just one point.

To put it mildly, Francis is struggling. He went one of eight from the floor against Georgia Tech and one of nine in this game.

Brooks led the Tar Heels with 21 points and 10 rebounds while the other big guy Armando Bacot scored 15 points.

"You can see from the numbers that we need to get the ball into those guys more," Coach Williams said.

Robinson rounded out the double-figure Carolina scorers with 13 points.

Trey McGowens led Pittsburgh, now 11-4 overall and 2-2 in the ACC, with 24 points.

The Tar Heels, now 8-7 overall and 1-3 in the ACC, host Clemson Saturday. The Tigers have never won in Chapel Hill.

Box Score

UNC's Andrew Platek returned from an ankle injury but only managed one bucket. (UNC Athletic Communications)

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