After the joy that came from UNC’s comeback and eventual buzzer-beating win over Duke last weekend, it was followed up with a bit of a thud. Earlier this week, the Tar Heels went on the road at Miami and were put away by the Hurricanes, having never lead. Even more worryingly, Caleb Wilson exited the game with an injury, later reported to be a broken hand, despite Hubert Davis playing it down postgame.
However, the season doesn’t provide many opportunities to lick your wounds. Carolina will have to jump
back on the horse quickly, as they’re now set to take on Pitt this Saturday.
The Panthers have not had the best of seasons in 2025-26. After losing to Duke earlier this week, they come into this weekend’s clash with a 9-16 record, having gone just 2-10 in ACC play so far. However, they’ve often been a thorn in UNC’s side in recent seasons, and while it would be annoying, it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility if they were a pest again in this clash.
Pitt’s leading scorer on the season is guard Brandin Cummings, although he has not played in a couple weeks and may not appear again this season. That being said, despite that leading scorer status, he wasn’t a ball-dominant only option or anything, as he’s one of four Panthers averaging in the 10-13 point range. In Cummings’ absence, Cameron Corhen leads the team at 12.0 PPG. However, Roman Siulepa, another in that quartet of 10+ scorers is coming off a 19-point effort on the road at Duke, so he’s one to watch as well.
One other thing to look at when it comes to when Pitt at the offensive end is their rebounding rate. In particular, the Panther have an offensive rebound percentage of 34.2%, which is in the upper third of the country in that stat. Especially if Wilson is out or hampered for UNC, that could be a dangerous combo if the Tar Heels aren’t on top of it.
On the defensive end of the floor, Carolina should hopefully be able to score. Pitt allows an offensive rating of 109.6, which is the 98th highest of anyone in the country. Even at KenPom, which adjusts for level of opponents, their defensive ranks in the 120s. If you just look at raw numbers, they’ve allowed more than 80 points in seven games, including 100 to Louisville about a month ago. That might not seem like that crazy an amount, but when you consider their tempo ranks 339th in the nation at KenPom, that’s a lot.
For UNC, the main thing to watch will be how they play without Wilson. Outside the trio of him, Henri Veesaar, and Jarin Stevenson, the Tar Heels don’t exactly have the most frontcourt depth. They have the bodies to make up those minutes, but not of the trio of players left over have exactly beat down the door for more playing time.
In theory, Pitt represents a good opportunity to get the mistakes from Miami straightened out. However, there’s enough questions there that by no means should anyone start counting the chickens before they hatch.
