CHAPEL HILL, NC — Armando Bacot has received praise this season for taking a backseat offensively, allowing RJ Davis to be the offensive focal point and putting more effort on defense and doing the little things on offense.
However, coach Hubert Davis didn't see it that way, saying earlier in the week that North Carolina needed Bacot to return to his dominance of recent seasons for the Tar Heels to reach their full potential.
“In order for us to do what we want, we need it,” Davis told ESPN on Thursday. “We need him to be a bottom guy. There's no chance we're going to achieve what we want without Armando putting up big numbers.”
Bacot got the message loud and clear, as the All-American big man finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists as No. 3 North Carolina cruised to a 93-84 victory over No. 7 Duke.
He set the tone by scoring on North Carolina's first possession and controlled the paint from that point on, hitting big baskets several times in the second half when it looked like Duke was about to make a run. Bacot's counterpart, Kyle Filipowski, finished with 22 points, but struggled to make shots from the perimeter (1 of 6 from 3) and did most of his damage later in the second half, when North Carolina was already up by double digits. .
“I think at the end of the day, the ACC gets through me,” Bacot said after the game. “All the great players I played against… coming into every matchup, I feel like I'm going to win… In these matchups, I take them a little more personally and I knew I would dominate.”
After Bacot averaged 6.3 points and 6.7 rebounds in his last three games, the fifth-year senior and his third-year head coach had their usual weekly meeting. But this time, he focused on figuring out how to return Bacot to his dominant form, like when he averaged 16.3 points and 13.1 rebounds as a junior or 15.9 points and 10.4 rebounds a year ago.
There was an emphasis on being more aggressive when passing the ball around the rim, but Davis also wanted to make adjustments to get Bacot the ball in a better position to score.
“I thought, what are the different ways I want to be able to get the ball to places where teams don't expect it? They can't double or triple team me,” Bacot said. “Credit to Coach Davis and Coach [Brad] “Frederick, they made some incredible plays that took my whole body out and gave me time to be able to have enough time to make a good move, a strong move at the basket.”
“We had a really nice time together,” Davis added. “Talking about him and what it takes for him, personally, and for our team to be the best it can be. People have told me that he's said he's taken on a reserve role, it's this person's team. [his] The role has changed… and I told him, I never told you that. … I thought it was important to get off to a good start and he was able to do that. And I felt like that gave him confidence to be able to be a force and be effective on the offensive end. When he dominates the post like that, he opens everything up for us.”
With Bacot leading the way in its final home game against Duke (he was the first player with 25 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in a Duke-UNC game in the last 25 seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Information), North Carolina had his best offensive performance since mid-January. The 93 points the Tar Heels scored were the most since the Jan. 13 win over Syracuse, and the 1.22 points per possession were the highest since Jan. 17 against Louisville.
“It starts and ends with Armando,” guard Cormac Ryan said. “He's one of our drivers, and he's a big part of this team making a deep run. And we have all the faith in the world that he'll help us just like he did tonight as we head down the stretch.”
While the first half was a back-and-forth affair with neither team clearly gaining the advantage, Duke was struggling to generate consistent offense outside of Jeremy Roach and Jared McCain. The Blue Devils tied the game at 22 on Roach's 3-pointer with 8:42 left in the opening period, but that was the last time they were tied with North Carolina.
The Tar Heels were able to get their transition game going, fueled by rookie point guard Elliot Cadeau and buoyed by Harrison Ingram's three-point shooting. In the first half, North Carolina scored 10 points off turnovers and 12 fast break points.
North Carolina went on a 13-6 run early in the second half to increase its lead to 15 points on an Ingram jumper, and Duke never got closer than seven the rest of the way.
While Duke was able to score 84 points thanks to his prowess around the rim (the Blue Devils scored the most points in the paint against the Tar Heels in the last 15 seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Information), his struggles from the perimeter marked the difference. in the game. They entered the weekend with the ACC's best three-point shooting offense, while North Carolina had the league's best three-point shooting defense. And on Saturday, Duke was just 5 of 19 from 3-point range, going 2 of 11 in the second half.
The Tar Heels had an answer for every Blue Devils run. Duke cut the lead to eight and McCain hit a three-pointer in the corner with a chance to cut it to five, but he missed and North Carolina responded with five straight points. After Duke again cut the lead to eight, Bacot finished a three-point play and Seth Trimble scored a basket to increase the lead to 13. A 3-pointer by Davis with 2:34 left reestablished Carolina's 13-point lead again. It was the dagger.
The game looked like it would slowly lead to a comfortable North Carolina victory, but the final minute reminded the rowdy Dean Dome crowd that this was still the best rivalry in sports. Davis was hit in the face for the second time in the game, but after the referees went to the monitor to review, they ruled a flagrant foul on Davis on the rebound. After Filipowski missed his first free throw, the stadium screens showed Rasheed Wallace's famous “Ball Do n't Lie” clip.
Something to save for the rematch on March 9.
“It's going to be a good night,” Bacot said. “We're going to have a lot of fun tonight.”
