CHAPEL HILL - Playing college basketball comes with pressure. Playing college basketball at North Carolina comes with blue blood pressure. Combine that with what was once a top-10 Tar Heel team riding a three-game losing streak, and that pressure can feel like the weight of the world to 18-23-year-old athletes.

That’s why when UNC secured a 68-65 win in its ACC-opener against Georgia Tech, it felt relief.

“I think a lot of guys on this team are feeling just stress and pressure from the media, from maybe their families, whatever it was, but I definitely think guys are feeling it,” said guard Seth Trimble. “I feel like guys were feeling this pressure and it was kind of taking a toll on them on the court so just to get this win, it definitely relieved some pressure and it’s a confidence booster.”

For three straight games, the Tar Heels found themselves down by double digits in the first half, and the Yellow Jackets nearly made it four, holding a 16-8 lead with 10:48 remaining in the opening frame.

Behind a 19-point outing from Trimble and a timely three-point basket from Elliot Cadeau, UNC squandered the early deficit and improved to 5-4 on the season, earning its first win in 13 days.

“I was telling the guys in the locker room it almost felt like two months [since a win], it’s only been like two weeks,” said guard Seth Trimble. “You start losing and these days get longer, so glad we got back on the winning track.”

Since their last win, the Tar Heels had traveled over 4,700 miles from Maui back to Chapel Hill, tried out three different starting lineup combinations, and dropped to No. 20 in the AP Poll.

With 4:34 remaining in the win, RJ Davis converted a layup attempt to extend UNC’s lead to 59-55, its first lead of more than a possession since the 15:42 mark of the first half in the Tar Heels’ 92-90 win over Dayton in Maui. That spanned across 131:08 of game time and five different contests.

Since the 2017-2018 season, North Carolina has witnessed a losing streak of three or more games on five separate occasions, but losing while from essentially wire-to-wire is a new experience.

With that comes the inevitable and building pressure, something Trimble believes is his job to relieve.

“I’ve been here for three years. I can tell when guys are playing with confidence, playing with not confidence, when guys are thinking about something on the court, and that’s kind of my job now,” said Trimble. “I’m a veteran, I’m a leader. It’s my job to just keep their heads high when things are going bad.”

Trimble and his backcourt mate in Davis were members of the UNC roster during the 2022-2023 season, in which the Tar Heels were ranked No. 1 to start the season. For the duo, pressure is a friend, not a stranger.

And while it has been present within the North Carolina roster over the last two weeks, it was absent following the victory on Saturday.

Georgia Tech’s 4-4 start to the season and 180 ranking in the NET meant a win for the Tar Heels did nothing to boost their resume or improve their metrics, but it brought relief, an impact that can’t be quantified.

It was, in the words of Davis, a “sloppy win,” one that featured a season-high 18 turnovers, 39 percent shooting from the field, and a second straight game in which UNC shot below 21 percent from three-point range, the first time that’s happened since 2016.

But, it’s a win, something the Tar Heels won’t apologize for.

“Like I said, every win feels good, you know,” said guard Ian Jackson. “We’re not going to hold our heads [down] while we didn’t play the best. We got a win. It’s hard to win. We got it done tonight.”

With a week off, UNC finds itself tied for the ACC lead, back in the win column, and, most importantly, relieved.