Flashback Thursday: North Carolina Came Up Big In the Clutch

On February 8, 2025, the North Carolina Tar Heels beat the Pittsburgh Panthers at home in a nail-biter, 67-66. Then-senior RJ Davis scored a game-high 18 points on 6/12 shooting from the field and 3/5 from the three-point line. Behind was then-Tar Heel Ven-Allen Lubin (now with the NC State Wolfpack), who put up a 17-point outing. Drake Powell, as a freshman, came off the bench and contributed with 10 points of his own.

Here is a first and second half breakdown found provided by GoHeels' Matt Bowers about the contest:

• For the fourth consecutive game, the Tar Heels started a four-guard lineup of Elliot Cadeau, RJ Davis, Seth Trimble, Ian Jackson and Lubin.
• After Pitt took a 3-0 lead to start the game, Carolina ripped off a 12-0 run to take a 12-3 lead.
• Lubin scored nine of UNC's first 12 points, and Jackson had tied his season high with three assists by the first media timeout.
• UNC had six assists on its first six buckets as a team and finished with 7 on 14 first-half field goals.
• Carolina hit 8 of its first 9 and 11 of its first 14 shots to start the game, including its first three three-point attempts.

• The Tar Heels eventually cooled off slightly and finished shooting 48.3 percent from the field before halftime, going nearly five minutes of game time without a point in one stretch late in the half. Carolina missed 9 of its last 10 shots.
• After UNC had matched its largest lead at 30-19 with 6:41 left before the break, the Panthers used a 13-2 run to claw back in it and tie the score at 32 with the final 90 seconds.

And for the second half:

• "Lubin picked up his third foul just 29 seconds into the second half, then the officials whistled him for his fourth foul with 12:31 remaining and UNC leading, 47-44.
• Carolina hit a dry spell, missing eight consecutive shots and not hitting a field goal for a stretch of over six minutes. But the Panthers couldn't take advantage, leaving the score tied at 51 with just over nine minutes to play.
• Lubin gave UNC the lead at 65-65 with 2:57 to go on a layup that gave him 16 points.
• Davis gave Carolina the lead with a tough jumper from the free throw line as the shot clock was running out, making the score 67-66 with 51 seconds to go.
• Lubin missed a free throw with 19 seconds remaining but dove for the rebound and knocked the ball off a Panther player to give Carolina the ball back with 18.3 ticks left on the clock.

• Trimble missed the front end of a one-and-one, giving the ball back to Pitt with 13.5 to go and UNC holding a 67-66 advantage.
• Trimble redeemed himself by diving for a loose ball on the ensuing inbounds pass and knocking it out of bounds, taking the clock down to 7.3 seconds for Pitt."

North Carolina eventual loss the next game against Clemson on the road 85-65, but achieved a six-game winning streak afterward.

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