Jay Williams blasts UNC for lack of effort, leadership in closing seconds of Pitt loss

With 3:21 to go in Tuesday night’s game against Pitt, North Carolina re-took a 65-64 lead on a layup from Elliot Cadeau. That turned out to be the Tar Heels’ last lead – and Jay Williams had some poignant criticism for the Tar Heels in the final seconds.

After a Seth Trimble foul, Ishmael Leggett went to the free throw line with a four-point Pitt lead. As he did, the Panthers huddled at center court. North Carolina, meanwhile, went to line up for the free throw. That didn’t sit well with Williams.

The ESPN analyst called the Tar Heels out for leadership problems and an apparent lack of effort as time ticked away. Pitt went on to seal the 73-65 victory, holding UNC scoreless for the final 2:35.

Jay Williams rips into UNC for a lack of fight.

"It already looks as if, with 24.9 seconds left to go, North Carolina being down only four points, that the game feels over." pic.twitter.com/JqB3yV8nqc

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 29, 2025

“I can tell you what you want to go through North Carolina’s players’ minds right now. They are all fragmented on the court,” Williams said on the broadcast. “Look at Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is huddling in the middle of the court. It already looks as if – with 24.9 seconds left to go, North Carolina being down only four points – that the game feels over. None of them have huddled. None of them have talked to each other.

“This is what Hubert Davis has been talking about, Kevin, about the lack of leadership on this team. Look, I know they’re down five. You’re never out of it until you’re out of it. But you need to have communication about what you’re doing next and about what you’re going to run offensively, where you need to be defensively and there’s no quit in your voice.”

North Carolina has now lost three of its last four games following the loss to Pitt Tuesday night. That dropped the Tar Heels to 13-9 overall and 6-4 in ACC play entering a high-profile rivalry matchup against Duke on Saturday.

Heading into the Pitt game, Davis was asked about issues with motivation surrounding the Tar Heels this year. He said it needs to be there when the game tips off, and it is “going to have to change” as the season goes along.

“I don’t know. This group has always found it,” Davis said in his postgame press conference after North Carolina’s victory over Boston College. “I think they’ve found it, when they have needed it. It’s needed at the jump ball. That’s something that’s just going to have to change.”