PHOTOS: Tar Heels take down Pitt to advance in ACC Tournament

Photos from the UNC basketball program’s tense win over Pitt in the ACC semifinals.

It was a dog fight Friday night between UNC and Pitt, with the Tar Heels getting the last punch to move into the Atlantic Coast Conference finals.

The story continues as the Tar Heels not only fight to win the ACC tournament but also to claim a No.1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The 72-65 win gave UNC a huge boost to grab a top spot in a bracket, and Mississippi State helped hugely with a double-digit win over Tennessee.

Armando Bacot led UNC in the win over Pitt, finishing with 19 points and dominating the board with 11 rebounds. Bacot’s defensive abilities were on full display, switching and distributing guards shots.

RJ Davis also had a significant role in the win, dropping 19 points in the second half, using his signature step back to pour it on. Pitt needed it more, but UNC showed who wanted it. In case you missed it, here are the best photos of the Tar Heels beating Pitt.

UNC one of seven ACC hoops teams in NET Top 60

Seven ACC hoops teams are in the Top 60 of the latest NET rankings. Can you guess where the Tar Heels sit?

Saturday is going to be a day full of highly-anticipated, marquee college basketball matchups that carry massive implications.

Several games to watch include a ranked Big 12 battle between Houston and Baylor, a significantly-improved Wake squad hosting eight-ranked Duke in a battle that could determine the ACC’s first-place team, Alabama and Kentucky battling between ranked SEC teams and – the one we hope you’re watching the closest – 10th-ranked North Carolina traveling to UVA, where it hasn’t won in over a decade.

We’ll talk more about the Tar Heels in a second, but let’s not discount the fact that – despite UNC and Duke being the only two ranked ACC teams, seven conference programs are Top-60 in the latest NET rankings.

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That’s right – North Carolina leads the way at 10th, despite its recent hot-and-cold stretch. Duke is rightfully close to the Tar Heels at 12th, Clemson stands at 26th, Wake Forest jumped 10 spots to 27th, UVA sits at 48th, Virginia Tech rose 10 spots to 52nd after its huge win over UVA, while Pitt rounded out the ACC’s share of Top-60 teams at 58th.

There’s still two weeks left in the regular season and the ACC Tournament, which could drastically change these team’s NCAA Tournament outlook, but all seven being in the Top-60 of NET means there’s likely to be several ACC teams in the Big Dance.

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How Notre Dame still can earn a top-four seed in NCAA Tournament

It’s doable.

Notre Dame is running out of chances to strengthen its NCAA Tournament resume. Every bracketology currently has the Irish as a No. 5 or No. 6 seed, which is bad if they want to host the first two rounds. Recent losses to Louisville and NC State haven’t helped, and their most recent wins have done little more than keep their needle where it is.

The Irish currently have an NET Ranking of 10th and a NET SOS of 25th. Their next two opponents are lowly ones in Clemson and Boston College, so while it’s important that they win those games, they won’t help their resume. All eyes will be on their last two regular-season games against ACC-leading Virginia Tech and Louisville, which have respective NET Rankings of 14th and 23rd.

So what does this mean for the Irish’s ever-decreasing chances to gain a No. 4 seed or better for March Madness? As I have a couple of times already, here’s what my friend Lucas Mitzel had to say while also giving out some additional NET Rankings:

Hubert Davis: ‘We needed to be tough in order to come away with a win’

Hubert Davis expresses UNC’s mindset of playing tough to win against a gritty Pitt team on the road.

The UNC men’s basketball program has had its fair share of tests this season, with Pitt challenging UNC differently on Tuesday night.

The Tar Heels went through a series of tough opponents to kick off the season, facing four teams ranked in the Associated Press Poll whose talent matches up with UNC. Pitt, on the other hand, didn’t necessarily have the same talent impact on the game, instead, they used their physicality to lead the way, forcing the Tar Heels into uncharted waters.

Pitt had UNC number recently, with a 3-0 record during Hubert Davis’s tenure as the head coach. In those three games the physicality the Panthers brought, took the Tar Heels out of their game. The same result was on the verge of happening for a fourth time, with the referee’s whistle non-existent in the first half.

However, unlike the Davis teams the prior two seasons, UNC didn’t waver, instead, they got chippy back, eventually creating a sizable lead they could sit on. The gritty win didn’t go unnoticed, as UNC continued to gain ingredients for the National Championship recipe.

Following the win, Davis talked about UNC ending the three-game skid against Pitt.

“They were deserving of winning the three games prior to this. They’re a very good basketball team, extremely well-coached. It’s very difficult to win on the road, especially here. So we knew that we would have to fight competitively. We knew that we needed to be tough in order to come away with a win and we were able to do it.”

The win was a great start for UNC conference away trip, with Clemson and NC State next on the road map.

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Social media reacts to UNC basketball’s gritty win over Pitt

Social media reacts to UNC basketball’s gritty win over Pitt, winning their first conference road game of the season.

The UNC men’s basketball program traveled to Pittsburgh for their first road conference game of the season, as UNC looked to kick off the new year with a victory.

UNC had yet to beat Pitt in the [autotag]Hubert Davis[/autotag] era, losing three straight. So, when the Tar Heels got off to a slow start, going 0-10 before [autotag]RJ Davis[/autotag] broke the scoring seal, overreactions had already filled the timelines on social media.

In Pitt fashion, they kept the game physical, and without too many whistles blown, it was the ideal recipe to keep UNC uncomfortable. The lack of a whistle didn’t go unnoticed as social media gave referee Ted Valentine a piece of their mind, even former UNC QB Marquise Williams got in on the action calling out Valentine’s “agenda”.

Despite fighting tooth and nail for every ball with not much help from the refs, the Tar Heels were able to go on a few runs, creating a sizable lead late in the second half. Even with Pitt’s attempts at a comeback, UNC was able to close the show, beating the Panthers 70-57.

The hard-fought victory swept through social media, as some praised the Tar Heels and others saw a blind spot in UNC’s strengths. From the good to the bad, we take a look at how social media reacted to UNC’s gritty win over Pitt.

Notre Dame football: Mickey’s pick-six about much more than just football

Notre Dame cornerback Jaden Mickey’s pick-six was a highlight but as we’ve learned, was so much bigger than just any regular touchdown

Sports have a weird way of bringing people together.  They’re not the only thing that does as concerts, movies, and plenty else can, but the way sports tend to do it is truly unique.

One such example came in Saturday’s blowout win of Pittsburgh by Notre Dame.

Fighitng Irish sophomore cornerback Jaden Mickey intercepted a Pittsburgh pass attempt and made a house call in the third quarter as Notre Dame separated from the Panthers.

Mickey’s return made it a 31-0 score just minutes into the third quarter but the scoreboard didn’t matter in this case.  That sports bond I mentioned above however did, in a big way.

Mickey mentioned after the game that his mind immediately went to one place as he approached the end zone:

“I just was picturing my mom and my dad in the living room yelling. I said, ‘My mom gotta see this.’ I’m happy it happened today.” – Jaden Mickey

Late Saturday, Inside ND Sports revealed the news that Mickey’s mother Nilka entered Hospice care earlier this fall.  She was diagnosed with stage-4 colon cancer early in 2020 and has decided to stop her chemotherapy treatments.

Notre Dame head coach shared praise of Mickey following the game.

“And so, I’m really pleased with how he performed, how he’s been practicing, how unselfish he is. I love Jaden Mickey, man. He’s a great player, and is doing great things for us.” – Marcus Freeman

Milka shared her excitement shortly after on social media as well:

Bigger than football or the scoreboard, that’s for certain.

 

Tremendous photos from Notre Dame’s dominating win over Pitt

If you thought the game looked enjoyable on TV then check out the best pictures from Saturday’s blowout win!

It’s been a long time since Notre Dame hung 58 points on a Power Five opponent but thanks to a comedy of Pittsburgh errors in the third quarter Saturday, the Irish routed Pitt 58-7.

This came after a slow start from Notre Dame offensively, but on a day that defense and special teams did more than their own shares, combining to score three touchdowns themselves.

With the win, Notre Dame moves to 7-2 on the season and has a chance to end up in a New Year’s Six bowl game if they’re able to win their final three regular season contests.

Pitt however fell to 2-6 on the year and after the game, head coach Pat Narduzzi seemed to let a bit of the blowout get to him.

We have tons of coverage following Notre Dame’s dominating win that we encourage you to check out.  Of course, do so after checking out the very best photos from the blowout victory below.

Notre Dame routs Pitt, gets Pat Narduzzi to call out talent of team

Pitt fans might want to buckle up as only more turbulence seems to be headed their way.

Pat Narduzzi has been the head football coach at Pittsburgh since the 2015 season.  He’s had success, winning the ACC just two years ago and going 62-41 previous to 2023.

He and the Panthers have gone just 2-6 in 2023 however, with their latest defeat coming of the 58-7 variety at Notre Dame.  It was the biggest loss they’ve suffered under Narduzzi and the biggest blowout loss they’ve had since falling 60-6 to Notre Dame 27 years ago.

After the game Narduzzi took responsibility the latest loss, but only after questioning the overall talent of the 2023 Pittsburgh squad.

“You lose a lot of good players a year ago, you think as a coach you’re going to replace them, we obviously haven’t,” Narduzzi said. “It starts with me. I didn’t do a good enough job of coaching today. Put it on me. We’ve got to make plays. It comes down to making plays and doing a better job of coaching.”

Although Narduzzi stepped up and took responsibility for the rough state of affairs, some of his players weren’t thrilled upon seeing the quote.

Narduzzi followed that up with a tweet of his own shortly after, accepting responsibility for the loss.

It’s one of those things I think a few things can be true.  Narduzzi can be right that his team isn’t as talented as it was just a year ago, but I can promise you that saying his players lack talent immediately following another blowout loss isn’t exactly going to win back a locker room, and doesn’t simply just go away with a simple tweet.

Hidden plays that helped Notre Dame’s win at home against Pittsburgh

Which non-scoring plays stood out to you Irish fans?

[autotag]Notre Dame football[/autotag] routed [autotag]Pittsburgh[/autotag] 58-7 at home on Saturday afternoon, getting a win following a bye week.

The win improves the Irish’s record to 7-2 in the second year of the [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] era, and should make a move north in the next rankings.

It wasn’t a trap game, as it could have been, the Irish taking care of business, scoring the most points on the year. It’s a game that many of us will go back and watch again, multiple highlight plays for Notre Dame.

There were other plays, that we might not remember, but still made a difference in this game. Here are those plays.

Notre Dame-Pitt: Former Irish running back currently Panthers leading rusher

A familiar face is coming back to South Bend

When Notre Dame and Pittsburgh do battle on Saturday afternoon in South Bend it’ll be a game that features a couple of former Fighting Irish standouts now wearing a different shade of blue.

Linebacker Shayne Simon and running back [autotag]C’Bo Flemister[/autotag] both spent four seasons at Notre Dame before transferring and ending up at Pitt.

Flemister said earlier this week of his decision to attend Notre Dame out of high school, where he wound up getting his degree:

“The big attraction to me personally was my future,” Flemsiter said. “They preach four for 40. Four years for the next 40 years of your life. You’re building a huge network. That alumni network is awesome. That was pretty much my biggest deciding factor. I’m looking 40 years down the road how going there could have helped me coming out of high school.”

Flemister currently leads Pitt with 282 rushing yards and has added a pair of touchdown runs.  He’s come on largely over the past two games for Pitt, who is just 2-5 on the year.

Check out some of the best photos of Flemister during his Notre Dame days below!