The hits keep coming for the Pitt basketball team.

North Carolina was next in line to take a shot at the undermanned Panthers, and the 11th-ranked Tar Heels — shorthanded themselves — registered another knockout punch.

Seth Trimbles and Jarin Stevenson scored 19 points apiece to lead four double-digit scorers as North Carolina, minus its top two scorers and rebounders, rolled to a 79-65 victory at Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C., extending Pitt’s losing streak to five.

The Panthers, without leading scorer Brandin Cummings for a fifth game in a row, have dropped nine consecutive regular-season games to AP Top 25 teams dating to an 11-point victory against then-No. 21 Virginia on Feb. 13, 2024.

North Carolina (20-5, 8-4 ACC) was playing without 6-foot-10 freshman Caleb Wilson (19.8 ppg, 9.4 rpg) and 7-foot junior Henri Veesaar (16.4 ppg, 9.0 rpg) but still managed to reach 20 victories for the fifth consecutive season under coach Hubert Davis.

Wilson, who has a broken bone in his left hand, and Veesaar, reportedly dealing with a lower-body injury, have combined for 62 blocks for the Tar Heels, who never trailed.

Meanwhile, Cummings, the sophomore guard from Lincoln Park, remained sidelined for Pitt (9-17, 2-11) with a sprained ankle, and point guard Demarco Minor was a late scratch from the starting lineup after arriving for the game about an hour before tipoff.

Minor’s girlfriend gave birth to their child early Saturday morning, and Minor did not travel on the team’s charter plane to North Carolina, arriving later by commercial flight.

It marked just the second time in 125 Division I games that Minor had come off the bench. In 27 minutes, he scored three points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Zayden High and Luka Bogavac added 15 points each for North Carolina, which shot 53% in the first half on its way to a 46-32 halftime lead.

Cameron Corhen led Pitt with a career-high tying 23 points. Roman Siulepa added 14, and Barry Dunning Jr. chipped in 10 for the Panthers, who return to Petersen Events Center to host Notre Dame on Saturday.

North Carolina jumped on Pitt from the start, converting its first eight shots to offset three consecutive 3-pointers by Corhen and led 26-15 with 9 minutes, 41 seconds left in the first half on a 3-pointer by Stevenson.

Pitt stayed within 10 points on several occasions, but the Panthers couldn’t keep up and trailed by 14 at halftime.

Dunning’s basket for Pitt to start the second half pulled the Panthers within 12 points, but North Carolina, coming off a 75-66 loss at Miami, gained steam and extended its lead to as many as 22 before cruising to sixth victory in seven games.