PITTSBURGH (WNCN) – Pittsburgh built a 43-23 lead by halftime and rode that out to beat North Carolina, 66-52, Saturday. The loss is the Tar Heels’ fourth in a row as they fall to 8-9 on the season.
UNC was 19-of-60 from the field and just 10-of-21 at the free-throw line.
Pitt had Xavier Johnson score 20 points while Ryan Murphy added 13 more off the bench to lead it to the win. Murphy’s 3-pointer near the midway point of the first half highlighted a 12-0 run by the Panthers that put UNC behind early on.
Pitt’s largest lead was 23.
Garrison Brooks, Armando Bacot, and Brandon Robinson combined for all but 12 of UNC’s points.
UNC has a chance to get back to .500 Wednesday at Virginia Tech.
After back-to-back losses, Saturday marked Pitt’s first win since Jan. 8 at UNC. The Panthers are back in action Wednesday at home against Boston College.
