CHAPEL HILL, N.C. _ A strange week in Chapel Hill somehow managed to get worse Wednesday night, with North Carolina searching for rock bottom and not yet finding it. It may be Saturday, when Clemson comes to town.
The Tar Heels' remarkable run against Clemson in Chapel Hill has survived four buildings, multiple generations, a world war and an 8-20 UNC team, but if there was ever a season when that 59-game streak might fall, it's starting to feel like this one.
Things, any realist can tell you, can always get worse. That would qualify.
"When things are going bad, a lot of things continue to go bad," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. "Some way, somehow, we've got to figure out a way to stop the bleeding and start playing better."
Williams remains tied with Dean Smith at 879 wins after a 73-65 loss to Pittsburgh, and a long season already only figures to get longer, even when Cole Anthony comes back, if he does.
It's hard to put into perspective just how soft a target the Tar Heels have become. Pitt, coming off a home loss to Wake Forest, not only had never won in Chapel Hill, but hadn't won an ACC road game anywhere since February 2017, 22 straight.
Streaks like that aren't typically broken in this zip code.
"Guys," Williams said, "it's not a pleasant time."
After the first-half debacle against Georgia Tech on Saturday, the Tar Heels actually led by nine at the break Wednesday, which only made the eventual result all the more painful. While Justin Champagnie was banging in 3-pointers in the second half for Pitt, North Carolina was getting more and more hesitant with the ball. By the end, no one even wanted to shoot, and the lead withered.
"They were both equally frustrating because we lost," North Carolina guard Brandon Robinson said. "This one definitely hurts more, just knowing that we were up at halftime and it was a game we should have won."
This team's issues and shortcomings are so readily apparent that it's hard to argue the quest to pass Smith is any more of a distraction than everything else going on, but there doesn't seem to be a way out of this mess even when Williams finally surpasses his mentor in the wins column.
In the wake of Saturday's loss, the Tar Heels tweaked their offense, tried to play more aggressive on defense and tightened their rotation, all to very little avail. The Tar Heels' late-game stagnancy on offense was so jarring it recalled the famous John McKay line when the football coach was asked about his team's execution: "I'm in favor of it," McKay said.
That sounds like something that might come out of Williams, especially in a week where he made headline news by referring to this team as one of the "least gifted" he has coached on his radio show Monday night. That comment that brewed up a firestorm when taken by itself but was less sensational when viewed in the context in which it was said, essentially that this group has to work harder because it can't get by on raw talent, at least not with Anthony, the explosive freshman, on the shelf.
Williams wasn't backing down, either. His fondness for hyperbole can sometimes muddle his message, which certainly played a role here in turning a sound bite into a national news item, to his chagrin.
"To me, to me, to Roy Williams, that's the most ridiculous thing to have any attention," he said. "That's like me wearing lucky socks or something. Good God almighty, you gotta play the damn game."
As Williams said that, he crossed his feet behind the podium, exposing a gout of color at his ankles. He was wearing bright blue socks with a cartoon face on them.
