Despite injuries, No. 11 North Carolina cruises to win over Pittsburgh
Jarin Stevenson and Seth Trimble scored 19 points apiece on Saturday to help short-handed No. 11 North Carolina post a 79-65 victory over visiting Pittsburgh in Atlantic Coast Conference play in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Zayden High had 15 points and seven rebounds for North Carolina (20-5, 8-4 ACC), which played without its two leading scorers in Caleb Wilson (19.8 points per game) and Henri Veesaar (16.4 ppg), who both missed the game with injuries. Luka Bogavac added 15 points for the Tar Heels, who won their sixth game in seven tries.
Cameron Corhen led Pittsburgh (9-17, 2-11) with 23 points, six rebounds, and six assists. Roman Siulepa scored 14 points and Barry Dunning Jr. contributed 10 in the Panthers' fifth straight loss.
After building a 14-point halftime lead, North Carolina extended the margin to 19 on Bogavac's mid-range jumper and High's dunk with 15:26 left. The Tar Heels took their first 20-point lead on Trimble's layup at the 13:41 mark.
Trailing 62-41, Pittsburgh pulled within 14 as Nojus Indrusaitis's layup began a 7-0 spurt. From there, North Carolina opened the lead back up as Bogavac's 3-pointer put the Tar Heels ahead by 22 at the 7:57 mark.
Corhen's dunk with 4:55 remaining pulled the visitors within 16, before the Panthers cut the deficit to 76-62 on Dunning's 3-pointer. Trimble then made three free throws to ice North Carolina's comfortable victory.
After Siulepa's layup trimmed Pittsburgh's early deficit to 8-5, Trimble's 3-pointer stamped an 8-0 spurt to push the Tar Heels' edge to 11 with 15:04 remaining in the first half.
Siulepa's floater later sliced North Carolina's lead to 20-15, before Trimble and Jonathan Powell's back-to-back layups gave the Tar Heels a 30-19 edge. Jaydon Young hit a triple to extend the lead to 36-23 with 6:10 left in the opening half.
Stevenson scored the Tar Heels' final four points of the first half, giving North Carolina a 46-32 lead at the break. Stevenson's 14 first-half points paced the Tar Heels, while Corhen's 17 led all scorers before halftime.