No. 12 No. Carolina looks to rebound vs. Pittsburgh (Jan 31, 2017)
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- It's fair to say that No. 12 North Carolina and Pittsburgh are hurting after their most recent games.
It's just that degree of suffering for these teams looks vastly different as they go into Tuesday night's Atlantic Coast Conference matchup at the Smith Center.
First-place North Carolina (19-4, 7-2 ACC) had its seven-game winning streak snapped Saturday at Miami.
"We have some major wounds that need to be healed," Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said Monday.
But nothing quite like last-place Pittsburgh (12-9, 1-7), which is stuck in a six-game losing streak after a couple of particularly disturbing results.
"We're struggling. That's obvious with what's going on with the outcomes of our games," Pittsburgh coach Kevin Stallings said. "Things don't get any easier, obviously having to play Carolina. They look like one of the best teams in the country to me. We know we've got our hands very full with that.
"We have to focus on continuing to try to get better and to try do the things to help us be a good team."
Williams described the Tar Heels as lacking energy in the Miami game.
"We didn't have enough guys with a high motor," Williams said. "You're not going to beat teams (in this league) unless you have your best effort."
Perhaps most troublesome was guard Joel Berry's two-point outing that included 0-for-8 shooting from the field. But Williams said after Berry struggled in the ACC opener at Georgia Tech that he responded in the next game with a sterling performance at Clemson.
Pittsburgh is coming off home losses to Louisville -- by a 106-51 score that reflected the largest margin of defeat ever for an ACC home team -- and to Clemson, which had shared last place with the Panthers.
"We played a little better on Saturday but we're going to have to do better than that if we want to have success we want," said Stallings, who's in his first season at Pittsburgh.
This begins a three-game road stretch for the Panthers, who also go to Duke and Boston College.
North Carolina is unbeaten in 11 home games this season.
Pittsburgh has the league's leading scorer in Jamel Artis (21.1 points per game) and third-leading scorer in Michael Young (20.3).
On the flip side, North Carolina has the top scoring team in the conference at 88.3, while Pittsburgh's scoring defense is second-to-last by allowing 77.3 points per outing.
"Our starters in some cases, particularly on defense, haven't been very productive," Stallings said.
North Carolina swingman Theo Pinson, who didn't play this season until mid-January because of a broken foot, will miss the Pittsburgh game after suffering an ankle injury last week. He also sat out the game at Miami.
The severity of Pinson's latest injury seems unclear as Williams said again that he's awaiting additional updates.
"I'd love to have him back because I think he adds so much to our team," Williams said.
Meanwhile, Stallings is somewhat familiar with North Carolina's campus. While Vanderbilt's coach, he made numerous visits to Chapel Hill a few years ago when his son, Jacob Stallings, was a catcher for the school's baseball team.
