GREENSBORO, N. Jonathan Babineaux Falcons Jersey .C. -- Talib Zanna had 19 points and a career-high 21 rebounds to help Pittsburgh beat No. 15 North Carolina 80-75 in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament quarterfinals Friday. James Robinson also scored a career-best 19 points for the fifth-seeded Panthers (25-8), who used a dominating start to build a huge lead before having to hold off a late rally by the fourth-seeded Tar Heels (23-9). Pittsburgh led by 20 points with 7:22 left before UNCs frantic comeback behind Marcus Paige, who scored 20 of his 27 points after halftime before fouling out with 25.4 seconds left. UNC got it to 78-75 on Nate Britts jumper with 11.4 seconds left but couldnt complete the comeback. James Robinson knocked down two free throws to make it a two-possession game again right after Britts score, then Lamar Patterson rebounded a hurried 3-pointer by James Michael McAdoo with 4.3 seconds left to essentially seal it. Now, after a dominating performance in Thursdays second round and a bumbling-but-successful finish Friday, the Panthers will face sixth-ranked and top-seeded Virginia in Saturdays semifinals. Zanna, a 6-foot-9 fifth-year senior, came within two rebounds of tying the single-game tournament rebounding record that had stood since 1959. He fouled out with 1:03 left. Zanna had 10 offensive rebounds -- one shy of UNCs team total -- and helped Pitt control the boards while taking a 21-6 edge in second-chance points against a team that was third in the league in rebounding margin for the regular season. With all those point-blank extra looks off offensive rebounds, Pitt shot 52 per cent for the game. North Carolina spent all day trying to recover from a terrible start. It missed 16 of 19 shots and fell behind 25-8, though its late comeback at least gave them some hope of sticking around Greensboro a little longer. North Carolina shot 42 per cent, though much of that production came after Pitt had built a 61-41 lead on Josh Newkirks three-point play midway through the second half. The Panthers have won five of six to pull out of a three-game losing streak that started to threaten their NCAA tournament chances, with this ranking as probably their best of the year. Now the Tar Heels are suddenly struggling. The Tar Heels started 0-3 in the ACC and stood at 1-4 before running off 12 straight wins, including a home win against Pittsburgh, to earn a top-four seed and double-round bye that came with it. But UNC didnt play well in the final two games of the streak and lost at Duke to close the regular season last weekend, sending them into Greensboro coming off their first loss since Jan. 20. The rebounding trouble was particularly alarming for UNC considering it managed just 20 rebounds in last weekends loss at Cameron Indoor Stadium. During one demoralizing second-half stretch, Zanna tipped in offensive rebounds on consecutive possessions and had 17 rebounds to UNCs 16 with nearly 14 minutes still left. Akeem Dent Falcons Jersey .9 million in 2013. Thats up $2.2 million from 2012. The Bombers say season-ticket sales and revenue hit a record high with some 24,620 sold for the first season at Investors Group Field, generating $8. Gabe Carimi Falcons Jersey . Daugavins was re-assigned by the Ottawa Senators to their American Hockey League affiliate Monday. The move comes after the 23-year-old scored in Ottawas 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday.LAS VEGAS -- Floyd Mayweather Jr. is enough of a businessman to know his latest fight would be a tough sell, especially after setting records with Canelo Alvarez his last time out. But sell he must, even though oddsmakers and nearly everyone else give Marcos Maidana little chance in their welterweight title fight Saturday night. A full house is already guaranteed at the MGM Grand hotel arena, but Mayweather needs people at home to pay $64.95 for the fight if he is going to recoup his guaranteed $32 million purse. So Mayweather hinted this week that this might be his last fight, though few in boxing believe that. He also said he planned to stand in front of Maidana and trade punches with the hard-hitting Argentine, though his history in the ring suggests he wont. Oh, and he wants to score a knockout, something hes done only once in the last seven years. "I want to look impressive," Mayweather said. "I want to put on a good show. We dont expect this fight to go the distance." Mayweather returns to the ring for the first time since dominating Alvarez in boxings richest bout, taking on Maidana in a fight that even Mayweather seems to have trouble expressing much enthusiasm about. Hes a bigger, much more skilled fighter than the Argentine, just part of the reason oddsmakers make him a 11-1 pick to remain undefeated in the 46th fight of a pro career that has made him the richest fighter ever. Still, Mayweather (45-0, 26 knockouts) says he has to be wary of the power Maidana brings into the ring. "Hes got an 80 per cent knockout ratio so I cant go to sleep on this guy," he said. "But guys cant go to the mental level Im at. I can beat them many ways." The fight is part of a pay-per-view card that features former champion Amir Khan moving up to welterweight to fight another former champion in Luis Collazo. Khan had campaigned to be Mayweathers opponent and won an online poll set up by Mayweather, who ended up picking Maidana instead. If Khan is impressive, though, and Mayweatther wins as expected, the two could meet later this year. Kroy Biermann Falcons Jersey. "I would have loved to fight Floyd Mayweather, but I believe its really for the best," Khan said. "It gives me a chance to get to 147 and feel my way." Maidana (35-3, 31 knockouts) earned the fight with a strong showing in his last bout, twice knocking down Adrien Broner on his way to a decision win in December. Though Maidana hits hard, he will be up against a fighter who is such a defensive wizard that he rarely gets hit with more than one punch in any exchange. "Its very difficult to land a punch against Mayweather," Maidana said. "But when I land a punch Im going to hit him and not let him go. I will go after him." Mayweather, who weighed in Friday at 146 pounds to 146 1/2 for Maidana, said he welcomes the challenge after easily beating Alvarez last September in a fight that was supposed to be his toughest test. "If he brings his best maybe he will be the first guy that actually makes me dig in my bag of tricks and pull out my A game," Mayweather said. "Hopefully he will make me bring out my A game because my whole career all I had to use was a D and C game to beat every guy." If the Alvarez fight showed anything other than Mayweathers talent for making money -- and tons of it -- it was that a conventional fighter stands little chance against him. Hes been dodging punches since before he could walk, and hes a wizard at exploiting whatever weakness he finds in the fighter in front of him. "I can feel when a guys gonna punch. I can feel it," Mayweather said. "I dont even have to see it; I can feel it. You know, this is just with experience and being around the sport so long." Maidana says he can become the first to beat Mayweather because he will be the first to treat him just like any other fighter in the ring. "Other fighters they show respect, they show fear," he said. "Thats one thing I wont show against Mayweather." ' ' '
