In the past five seasons, Pitt and North Carolina have played eight times. Tonight, the Panthers host the Tar Heels for a 9:00 p.m. tip at the Petersen Events Center in the first of two scheduled meetings this season.

In those eight previous meetings, Pitt owns a slight 5-3 edge over North Carolina, in what has been a competitive series of late with six of those games being decided by 10 points or less. UNC ended Pitt's season last year in the ACC Tournament, in a back and forth 72-65 game.

What has made this game competitive has been some familiarity with what North Carolina is trying to do. The Tar Heels have largely rolled with a roster anchored by big man Armando Bacot and point guard RJ Davis for some time now. While Bacot is finally out of eligibility (I think), the 5’11” Davis is back for a fifth and final season of leading the Tar Heels.

On Monday, Pitt head coach Jeff Capel acknowledged North Carolina is always a team that has played with great pace on offense, but maybe even more so without having that consistent presence in the middle like Bacot.

“The makeup of their team is different,” Capel said of the Tar Heels. “At times like last game, they started four guards, and so if any of those guards get it, they're all able to push and to attack. I do think they're playing faster than they have the past few years, which they played fast all the time, but I think they've made a conscious effort to try to get out a little bit more.”

North Carolina will come into this game with a 13-8 (6-3) overall record. The Tar Heels played a daring non-conference schedule, and it got them behind a bit, but some issues have remained with this team into conference play as well. North Carolina lost two one-point games to Stanford and Wake Forest earlier this month, and needed overtime to dispatch a pretty bad Boston College team over the weekend.

RJ Davis fronts a quartet of guards all averaging double figures for fourth-year head coach Hubert Davis. The fifth-year senior is averaging 17.7 this year, down from 21.2 last season. The reigning ACC Player of the Year is 41 points shy of becoming just the second player in North Carolina history to reach 2,500 career points, and is looking to join Tyler Hansbrough in that regard.

As Capel made mention, the Tar Heels started three other guards around the veteran in Saturday’s game against Boston College. Elliot Nadeau (10.7 ppg), Seth Trimble (12.4), and freshman Ian Jackson (15) all are averaging double figures this season and have been the team’s best options all year outside of Davis, as the team continues to look for answers inside. The tallest starter North Carolina employed on Saturday was 6’8” Ven-Allen Rubin, while the other four guys on the court were 6’4” or smaller.

In Pitt’s month of January, the team has struggled in the rebounding department more than anywhere else. Capel said he is still looking for other improvements defensively beyond rebounding, like simple on-ball and pick and roll defense. Those are some areas that could play a pivotal role in tonight’s game against a guard-driven North Carolina offense.

“It all really pertains to guarding the ball and the best defenses, they have five guys guarding the ball, not just the one guy that's on the ball,” Capel said of what he is looking for from his team. “Ball screen defense, five guys guarding, not just the two that are involved in it. So our communication and all of those things have to continue to improve.”

While defending North Carolina can always be tricky, the sheer pace at which the Tar Heels like to play can also cause havoc on the other end of the floor. They can speed teams up at times, and that can sometimes lead to turnovers.

Pitt had a recent game against Florida State where turnovers were an issue, coughing up 17 total. That has not been common of this team, however. The Panthers limited themselves to only three turnovers and none in the second half against Syracuse. Pitt is second in the ACC in fewest turnovers committed, with only 10.1 per game.

“I think we have pretty good guards,” Capel said of limiting turnovers. “I think we make good decisions. That's why the 14 in the first half against Florida State was just, it's the most we've had in any game. I hope an anomaly, but we've been pretty good at it all year. I thought in the second half of that game, Syracuse, we were in front of our bench so we could kind of joystick it a little bit and make sure we got into stuff.”

Pitt’s offense played much better in the second half with that added emphasis to detail. The Panthers posted 45 points after halftime against Syracuse, and shot 58% while doing it. It’s the type of effort that may need to continue tonight, in what could be a high scoring game featuring two of the top four highest-scoring teams in the ACC.