Pittsburgh Panthers vs North Carolina Tar Heels Prediction, 2/14/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: Pittsburgh Panthers vs North Carolina Tar Heels

Date: Saturday, February 14, 2026

Location: Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, NC

TV: ESPN

The North Carolina Tar Heels (19-5) will go up against the Pittsburgh Panthers (9-16) at Dean E. Smith Center on Saturday.

The Pittsburgh Panthers faced Duke and took a loss by a score of 70-54 in their last game. Concerning personal fouls, the Panthers ended up finishing with 9 while Duke totaled 12 personal fouls. They converted 9 out of their 23 tries from long range. Duke finished the game at 62.5% from the free throw line by burying 5 of their 8 shots. In addition, Duke snagged 35 boards (7 offensive, 28 defensive), but didn't record a block for the team. Duke dished out 16 dimes and had 6 steals in this matchup. With respect to defense, Pittsburgh let their opponent shoot 54.9% from the field on 28 of 51 shooting. They also dished out 14 assists in this game in addition to forcing the other team into 13 turnovers and getting 11 steals. When it comes to hauling in boards, they earned 20 with 5 of them being offensive. From the charity stripe, the Panthers knocked down 3 of 8 shots for a percentage of 37.5%. Pittsburgh finished with a 38.9% field goal percentage (21 out of 54) and made 9 out of their 33 shots from downtown.

Roman Siulepa is someone who was a major factor in this contest. He ended up walking away with 19 points on 6 out of 15 shooting. He played 39 mins and also snagged 4 rebounds. He ended up going 40.0% from the field and earned 3 dimes.

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Pittsburgh will play this contest with a mark of 9-16 this season. They are losing possession via turnover 11.3 times per contest and as a team are committing 16.8 fouls every game. As a unit, Pittsburgh is pulling down 34.8 boards per game and is sitting with 326 assists so far this season, which is 244th in college hoops in terms of passing the ball. The Panthers are hitting 33.0% on shots from downtown (206 of 625) and 66.1% from the free throw line. They have an average of 70.1 pts per game (311th in the country) while shooting 43.2% from the field.

When they are on defense, the Panthers have forced 11.0 turnovers on a nightly basis while drawing 16.0 fouls. They surrender 35.4% on 3-pointers and they are ranked 117th in college in points per game from their opponents (71.5). The Panthers defensively are giving up an opponent shooting percentage of 46.0% (625 of 1,359) and they surrender 32.5 boards per game as a group. They are ranked 182nd in D-1 in allowing assists to their opponents with 332 surrendered so far this season.

The last time they took the court, the North Carolina Tar Heels walked away from this one with a loss by a score of 75-66 when they played Miami. The Tar Heels earned 26 defensive boards and 5 offensive boards totaling 31 for this contest. They turned it over 10 times, while getting 5 steals for this contest. Miami had 9 personal fouls for the game which took the Tar Heels to the free throw line for 10 shots. They were able to bury 8 of those for a percentage of 80.0%. With respect to 3-point shots, North Carolina made 8 out of their 27 tries (29.6%). When this game wrapped up, the Tar Heels finished shooting 25 out of 63 from the field which had them shooting 39.7%. The Tar Heels permitted Miami to knock down 29 out of 62 tries from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 46.8% in this contest. They went 23.1% from three-point range via 3 of 13 and ended up going 14 out of 23 from the free throw line (60.9%). In relation to attacking the glass, North Carolina allowed Miami to grab 35 in all (8 on the offensive glass).

Jarin Stevenson was important for the Tar Heels in this game. He made 6 of 10 in the matchup for a field goal rate of 60.0%, and tallied 6 rebounds. He racked up 13 points in his 26 minutes on the court, but wasn't able to earn an assist.

North Carolina has a win-loss mark of 19-5 so far this season. As an offense, the Tar Heels are shooting 47.7% from the floor, which ranks them 52nd in D-1. North Carolina has accounted for 1,966 points on the season (81.9 per game) and they grab 39.3 rebounds per game. They are assisting teammates 16.8 times per game (44th in Division 1) and they turn it over 9.5 times per game. The Tar Heels commit 14.7 fouls per contest and they hit 68.8% from the free throw line.

The North Carolina defense allows 33.9% on 3-point attempts (189 of 557) and their opponents are knocking down 69.6% of their shots from the free throw line. They concede 12.9 assists and 34.2 rebounds on a nightly basis, which ranks them 138th and 169th in the country. The Tar Heels defensively are ranked 96th in the nation in points per game surrendered with 70.7. They are forcing their opponents into 9.6 turnovers per game and have allowed teams to shoot 40.8% from the field (40th in the country).

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Pittsburgh

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