Pitt Basketball
Pitt Outlasts North Carolina for Pivotal ACC Victory

PITTSBURGH — As the month of February looms, signaling the home stretch of the college basketball season, Pitt basketball welcomed the North Carolina Tar Heels to town for a high-stakes matchup between two teams that snapped losing streaks in their previous outings and were looking to enhance their tournament resumes.
In a thrilling battle that came down to the final three minutes, Pitt outlasted North Carolina, 73-65, in large part to an outstanding two-way performance from Zack Austin.
LEFT NO DOUBT ⚫🟡 #H2P pic.twitter.com/N4NaGVsbho
— Pitt Basketball (@Pitt_MBB) January 29, 2025
Austin was a man possessed in the final stretch as he buried a pair of critical threes and blocked a handful of North Carolina shots. The redshirt-senior forward finished with 15 points and five blocks for the Panthers (14-6, 5-4 ACC).
Jaland Lowe added 18 points with three triples, along with seven assists and six rebounds. Ishmael Leggett had 15, while Damian Dunn recorded 14 points.
RJ Davis led North Carolina (13-9, 6-4 ACC) with 16 points as the Tar Heels shot 44.1 percent (26-of-59). UNC out-rebounded the Panthers 38-28.
With both teams averaging north of 80 points per game, there was no shortage of action in the first 20 minutes of play.
North Carolina pushed it inside early and found success in its transition game as the Tar Heels climbed to a quick 10-4 lead with a pair of buckets from Ian Jackson in the paint.
The Tar Heels then turned it to the outside as Elliot Cadeau and Jae’Lyn Withers nailed two triples.
While Pitt struggled to find its rhythm offensively — shooting under 30 percent in the first five minutes of the game — the Panthers dialed up the intensity on both ends of the floor.
Corhen collected a strong offensive rebound and finished before Guillermo Diaz Graham grabbed a rebound on the defensive side that turned into a Lowe basket.
After Austin rose up to block a shot, the Panthers found Corhen wide open inside for a two-handed slam that gave Pitt its first lead of the game, 24-23, at the 9:43 mark of the first half.
As Pitt climbed in front, the Tar Heels needed a spark from its leading scorer in Davis, a graduate senior who scores 17.7 points per game. Davis snapped out of a quiet start and buried a pair of triples, along with taking advantage of a mismatch on Diaz Graham.
With two minutes to go in the first half, North Carolina jumped to a double-digit lead. That quickly evaporated thanks to an impressive one-man run by Lowe. With the help of a pesky defense that forced several turnovers, Lowe hit on a nifty lay-in and two pull-up 3-pointers.
JLOWE DON'T DO IT TO 'EM 🫨🌀#H2P / 📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/lSqz7jn9jE
— Pitt Basketball (@Pitt_MBB) January 29, 2025
North Carolina would take just a two-point lead into halftime, 44-42.
The Tar Heels opened the second half with a pair of driving layups from Seth Trimble and Davis as the Panthers missed on their first two looks from the field. Jeff Capel looked to calm his team down with a timeout after the Heels extended their lead to 49-42.
The timeout paid off as Pitt scored the next eight points with Corhen using his body to finish on consecutive attempts in the paint.
It was then Damian Dunn that thrusted the Panthers into the lead with a three from downtown to make it 50-49 Pitt.
Austin would then post the highlight of the night with a ridiculous flying two-handed dunk.
ZACK AUSTIN FLYING DOWN THE LANE ✈️
(via @espn)pic.twitter.com/9OaEgt5XgY
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) January 29, 2025
Every time Pitt seemingly grabbed momentum, it was lost as the Tar Heels put together a 7-0 run as the Panthers went cold from the floor.
Despite going 6:56 without a bucket from the field, Pitt kept pace with the Tar Heels and jumped back in front with a massive corner three from Austin to make it 64-63 Pitt.
Austin added another three, while Corhen finished on a jumper inside the paint to put Pitt in position to close out the game.
Pitt then supplied the clamps on defense with Austin leading the way with several high-soaring blocks as the Tar Heels went scoreless in the last 3:21.
Pitt is back on the road this Saturday, Feb. 1 for a matchup with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Tip-off is set for noon.

