Pitt squeaks by North Carolina on 2 free throws in final seconds
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Pitt won a big game Wednesday night in front of a loud, hostile crowd of 20,421 in North Carolina’s Dean Dome.
The winning points came off the sure hands of senior guard Jamarius Burton, who hit two foul shots with 3.6 seconds left, lifting the Panthers from a one-point deficit and what looked like a deflating defeat to an important ACC victory that could have positive ramifications in March.
But the groundwork for the Panthers’ 65-64 victory against the Tar Heels occurred in a quiet room back at Petersen Events Center a few days ago when Nelly Cummings watched video of his opponent.
The result was Cummings using his brain and shooting skills to hit five 3-pointers — three in a crucial 1-minute, 12-second stretch of the second half — to give him a team-high 21 points and his team its third consecutive victory in the Dean Dome. Pitt is one of only three opposing teams to win three in a row there.
Cummings wasn’t surprised he was able to hit five of his six 3-point attempts overall. “I do a lot of film study,” he said. “So I knew those shots would be available.”
Cummings cramped up in the second half and fouled out with 1:47 left, but not before filling up his stat line.
Along with his 8-of-11 shooting performance, he contributed three assists, two rebounds, one steal and only three turnovers in 33 minutes. “We wanted to keep riding him,” coach Jeff Capel said.
The Panthers (16-7, 9-3 ACC) swept both games against North Carolina (15-7, 7-4) this season, and have won five of the past six in the series. This one was Pitt’s sixth victory in eight games this season decided by three points or fewer.
Most importantly, the victory on the road against a Quad 1 opponent — added to previous wins against Virginia, Miami, Wake Forest and the first one against the Tar Heels — will look good on Pitt’s resume when the NCAA Tournament committee meets in March.
North Carolina, which reached the national championship game last season, had been 10-0 at Dean Dome before Wednesday. But the Tar Heels shot only 34.8% from the field, with R.J. Davis missing 12 of 15 after recently playing at what coach Hubert Davis described as “an All-American level.”
Cummings, a transfer from Colgate, outplayed his higher profile opponent.
“Once (Cummings) saw one go in, the basket got bigger and bigger and his confidence grew,” Pitt assistant coach Jason Capel said on the 93.7 FM postgame show.
Capel, a North Carolina graduate, said Pitt won because its players stuck to the plan.
“We have a motto: We want to be focused, disciplined and connected and you have to do that for 10 rounds, which is 40 minutes,” he said. “And we did it in a hostile environment against a very good team that is very good at home.
“We stuck together, made big plays. We didn’t rebound great (losing that battle 43-34), but when we needed to get them, we got them. You have to be tough. You have to be strong. You have to be connected to win on the road, and we did that with a great sense of confidence.”
The game turned on a North Carolina turnover, only its ninth of the game, when Pitt double-teamed North Carolina’s Armando Bacot.
Bacot, who finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds, hit two foul shots to give the Tar Heels a 64-63 lead with 1:07 to play. But Pitt forced Bacot to travel and commit a turnover when two defenders surrounded him with 23.7 seconds to play. Pitt took advantage, and Burton was fouled while driving to the basket.
“I don’t think anyone in the country can guard him one on one,” Capel said of Bacot. “He’s big. He’s strong. He understands angles. When he gets deep in low positions, he can score, he can get fouled or he can do both.
“We wanted to limit that, make it tougher for him to throw it out.”
Caleb Love led North Carolina with 22 points. Burton added 19 and Nike Sibande 10 and a team-high seven rebounds for Pitt. Sibande also deflected Love’s desperation shot with .6 of a second left. Blake Hinson, who entered as Pitt’s leading scorer (16.4 points per game), had only two, but he grabbed six rebounds
Down by a point, the Tar Heels came out of their locker room in the second half and seized a 44-40 lead. Cummings shot back, however and hit three 3-pointers in 72 seconds. Federiko Federiko scored on a dunk, Burton added a two-pointer and Pitt had a 53-48 lead at 9:57, forcing North Carolina to call a timeout.
Pitt held a 61-55 lead with 4:47 left, but North Carolina went on a 6-0 run and tied the score on a 3-pointer by Love at 3:49. Pitt struggled to score late in the game, but made the big plays — the double team of Bacot, Burton’s foul shots, Sibande’s block — when they counted the most.
Now, the Panthers are off until Tuesday when they meet Louisville at the Pete.
“This was a gritty, gritty win for us,” Jeff Capel said. “These guys don’t blink. We just keep playing.”