This Week in Pittsburgh: Blue Blood Coming to Town

Pitt will welcome the North Carolina Tar Heels to town on Tuesday night, kicking off its week of action.

The Tar Heels are currently 13-8 on the year, and 6-3 in ACC play so far. They are coming off of a win, taking down Boston College 102-96 in overtime at the Dean Smith Center over the weekend. This close game came after UNC lost to Wake Forest earlier last week, 67-66, in Winston-Salem.

Armando Bacot is no longer with the team, and is now playing professional basketball. However, there are still some familiar faces leading the way for Hubert Davis’ squad. RJ Davis had 22 points, five rebounds, and five assists in the win over Boston College over the weekend. Fellow returners Elliot Cadeau and Seth Trimble also had solid games, as Trimble had 18 points and Cadeau added 13. Trimble also grabbed 12 rebounds in a double-double performance.

Carolina brought in one of the top freshmen in last year’s class in Ian Jackson. Jackson has been as-advertised so far in his collegiate career, and in just 28 minutes against BC,  he went 8 for 13 from the field and 2 for 3 from three-point range to finish with 19 points.

As a team, North Carolina is averaging the second-most points per game among all ACC teams at 82.5. However, on the other end, things aren’t looking so sharp for the Heels. UNC is giving up 76.4 points per game to opponents, which ranks 16th out of 18 ACC teams.

While the Tar Heels score lots of points, three-point shooting isn’t necessarily a strong suit for the team according to the stat sheet. UNC is 13th in the ACC in both three-point percentage and three pointers made.

UNC averages the second-most defensive rebounds per game among all ACC teams, grabbing 28.2 per contest. Luckily for Pitt — who just gave up 20 offensive rebounds to Syracuse — the Heels rank 16th in offensive rebounding in the league.

Stay tuned on Pittsburgh Sports Now for more on the matchup. Pitt and UNC will tip off at 9 p.m. at Petersen Events Center on Tuesday, Jan. 28 on ESPN.