WASHINGTON, D.C. (WNCN) — The Atlantic Coast Conference regular season champion North Carolina Tar Heels continue their quest to add a tournament championship to their resume.
UNC (26-6 overall, 17-3 ACC) faces fourth-seeded Pittsburgh (22-10, 12-8) Friday night in the first semifinal game at Capital One Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Both teams dominated their quarterfinal matchups Thursday afternoon, with the Tar Heels topping Florida State 92-67 and the Panthers never trailing Wake Forest in what ended up as an 81-69 victory.
The Tar Heels have ACC Player of the Year RJ Davis, who scored a team-high 18 points against the Seminoles Thursday in UNC’s first contest of this year’s tournament. The Panthers also have a decorated player in Ishmael Leggett, who won the ACC Sixth Man of the Year award this week and promptly scored 30 points off the bench against the Demon Deacons.
This will be the 16th matchup all time between the two programs, with UNC holding a 9-7 advantage. Pitt has seemingly had the Tar Heels’ number in recent years, however, as the Panthers have won five of the last seven meetings dating back to the 2019-2020 season.
The last time UNC and Pitt met in the ACC Tournament was in 2016 — the last time the event was held in Washington, D.C. The Tar Heels won that quarterfinal matchup, 88-71.
NC State and Virginia are playing in the second semifinal game Friday night. The winners will play in the final Saturday night at 8:30.