Latest Report:RJ Davis takes over ACC tournament final true world class

RJ Davis took over the game with 25 points, Armando Bacot scored 19 while grabbing 11 rebounds and No. 4 North Carolina beat Pittsburgh, 72-65, on Friday night to advance to the 2024 Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament title game.

The Tar Heels’ eighth consecutive victory coupled with other results around the country put them in the driver’s seat for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. That path cleared earlier in the day when fifth-ranked Tennessee lost 73-56 to Mississippi State in the Southeastern Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament quarterfinals.

North Carolina (27-6, 17-3 ACC) still had to take care of business against Pitt (22-11, 12-8 ACC). The Panthers led by as many as nine in the first half and kept punching back until late, tying it at 62 with about four minutes left, until Davis hit just his second 3-pointer to put the Tar Heels ahead.

After seven lead changes throughout, North Carolina never trailed again, with Davis grabbing a crucial rebound and hitting a long 3 in the final minutes to help put it away. The ACC Player of the Year scored 19 of his points in the second half.

Third-seeded Virginia or 10th-seeded NC State is up next in the final on Saturday night. It’s UNC’s first appearance in the final since 2018, and one more victory would give the program its first ACC Tournament title since 2016, when it was also held in Washington.

Roy Williams, the Tar Heels’ coach at the time who led them to three national championships, fittingly watched in the first row at halfcourt in Carolina blue. And he was far from alone, with UNC fans making up most of the crowd for the semifinals.

Carlton Carrington led Pitt with 24 points, and Jaland Lowe had 17. The Panthers, who were up early thanks to some hot 3-point shooting, were hurt by three fouls in the first 14 minutes on Federiko Federiko, keeping the center on the bench for long periods of time