Pitt falls to North Carolina for 2nd straight loss

Short of setting up ladders in the paint, there didn’t seem to be much Pitt could do Tuesday night to combat North Carolina’s superior size.

Too many times to suit Pitt coach Jeff Capel, the Tar Heels missed a shot and either Armando Bacot, Garrison Brooks or Day’Ron Sharpe – all 6-foot-10 or taller — would rise above the crowd to grab an offensive rebound or simply tap the ball into the net.

The result was a 75-65 loss to North Carolina at Petersen Events Center, giving the Panthers (8-4, 4-3 ACC) their second loss in a row. The Tar Heels (11-5, 6-3) have won six of their past seven games.

Bacot, Brooks and Sharpe combined for 43 points and 23 rebounds. Bacot finished with 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds. Overall, North Carolina outrebounded the Panthers, 37-29, with 14 coming off the offensive glass.

Was the game simply a matter of one team having taller players than the other?

That was part of it, but Capel wasn’t totally buying that explanation.

“Most of the teams we play against our bigger than us,” he said. “We’ve done a pretty good job all year.”

The difference Tuesday was North Carolina won the physicality battle.

“We were not physical with our block outs,” Capel said. “We were not physical trying to get open. We have to do a better job of that. That’s what we talked about.”

Pitt repeatedly permitted North Carolina entry passes that set up shots close to the basket. Capel said there was an answer for that, too.

“In a game like this when you know the ball is coming inside,” he said. “You have to do a better job early defensively. We had to get some help.”

Despite the size disadvantage, Pitt kept the Tar Heels within striking distance in the first half and trimmed the deficit to 39-33 three minutes after intermission.

At that point, however, 6-8 sophomore Abdoul Karim Coulibaly, who has blossomed into Pitt’s best big man, went to the bench with his third foul. With Pitt’s depth in the front court lacking, the Tar Heels responded by doubling their advantage to 56-44 by the 10:48 mark.

Three minutes later, North Carolina led, 66-50.

Pitt rallied, cutting the lead to 70-65 at 3:11 on a layup by Femi Odukale, but North Carolina scored the game’s final five points.

Justin Champagnie led the Panthers with his sixth 20-10 effort in 10 games (23 points-10 rebounds). But for the second consecutive game, he didn’t put up enough shots to make a difference in the outcome.

He’s shooting well – he hit four 3s and was 7 for 9 overall Tuesday — but in losses to Wake Forest and North Carolina, he tried a total of only 21 shots (making 14). Previously, when Pitt defeated Syracuse and Duke, he was 21 of 33.

“We absolutely do,” said Capel when asked if Pitt needs to get the ball into Champagnie’s hands more often. “We have to run our offense better in order to do that.

“We have to be able to execute. We have to be able to get into entries, to get the ball where we want to get it to.

“North Carolina did a good job of taking us out of some of our stuff. They were up in the passing lanes. They really utilized their length.”

Champagnie said extra work in the gym has helped him, and he’s now shooting 54.9% from the field for the season (fourth in the ACC).

“It’s all coming together,” he said.

But he also accepted blame for the loss.

“I should have gone to the glass more,” he said. “I felt like if I went to the glass a little bit more, I could have maybe gotten a couple tip-ins and we could have turned the game around.

“I guess I should have done more to help my team win.”

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