Armando Bacot's historic day leads North Carolina to blowout win over Virginia
North Carolina crushed Virginia 74-58 on Saturday afternoon to move to 3-1 in ACC play.
The Tar Heels got a historic day from center Armando Bacot, who set career-highs for points (29) and rebounds (21). That performance puts him in rare air in UNC history. Here’s a few examples:
🔹 29 Pts
🔹 21 RebArmando Bacot becomes the first @UNC_Basketball player with consecutive 20-15 games since Tyler Hansbrough in '08 😤 @iget_buckets35 pic.twitter.com/T0yF3r0Gl2
— ACC Network (@accnetwork) January 8, 2022
With 25 points and 21 rebounds, Armando Bacot has the first 20-20 game by a Tar Heel since Brice Johnson had 39 and 23 against Florida State on Jan. 4, 2016.
— Pat James (@patjames24) January 8, 2022
Armando Bacot has 20 rebounds. He's the first #UVa opponent to register 20 or more rebounds against the Hoos since Wake Forest's Tim Duncan did it with 23 rebounds on Feb. 22, 1997.
— Greg Madia (@GregMadia) January 8, 2022
Armando Bacot joins Sean May as the only North Carolina players with 20+ rebounds in a game at the Smith Center.
The building opened in 1986.
— Bryan Ives (@awaytoworthy) January 8, 2022
Bacot got plenty of help from his teammates, too. Caleb Love was sensational, scoring 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting. He also added 3 rebounds and 5 assists.
But the biggest help came from Brady Manek, who was starting in place of the injured Dawson Garcia. Manek played the best game of his UNC career so far, scoring 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Manek also made 5 3-pointers and dished out 5 assists.
The trio of Bacot, Manek and Love out-scored Virginia 64-58 despite taking just 44 field goal attempts.
This win puts North Carolina back on track toward an NCAA Tournament berth. The Tar Heels were coming off their first ACC loss of the season vs. Notre Dame last week.
North Carolina is now No. 29 in KenPom’s live rankings. UNC is off until next Saturday when it hosts Georgia Tech.