The North Carolina Tar Heels were in the middle of their first losing streak of the season when they seemingly put everything together against Boston College to get a big win. The No. 12 Tar Heels have dropped in the rankings, but can easily get back on track in the final stretch of the regular season before getting to conference tournaments. They hope that begins with Pittsburgh who has similar weaknesses to Boston College.
The Tar Heels put on a team show against Boston College. Isaiah Hicks and Brice Johnson combined for 41 points over Boston College. Hicks was making his second start of the season and it paid off by putting up a career-high 21 points. Johnson added 20 on 9 of 14 shooting. The Tar Heels thrived on shooting inside, but their perimeter shooting left a lot to be desired as Marcus Paige was the only player to attempt a 3-point shot. He made one while going 4-for-4 from inside. The Tar Heels as a team put up 46 points in the paint.
North Carolina's losses have been a result of poor perimeter shooting. When they lost to Louisville and Virginia, the team went a combined 9 of 25 from beyond the arc. Their 13.8 3-point attempts per game is the lowest in the conference outside of Pittsburgh. North Carolina might not have an easier time against Pittsburgh who defending ranks 14th in the ACC at 49.7 percent. They allowed Louisville to attempt just four 3-point shots. They were the fourth team to shoot less than 50 percent in a game.
Pittsburgh's game against North Carolina is the start of a tough stretch for the Panthers. They got a win over Syracuse before losing to Louisville. Then the team hosts North Carolina before heading to face Virginia and Syracuse again. If Pittsburgh can escape with two wins from that stretch they could be building a tournament resume and get into March Madness contention.
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