Carolina showed glimpses of how good it could be by the end of the season. Louisville showed how bad it is now and leaves little hope for the rest of this season. And one had a lot to do with the other.
The Tar Heels came into Saturday’s game with more questions than the GE College Bowl. Armando Bacot wasn’t going to play, then maybe he would try and ended up with a double-double in the first half, enhancing his super heroism even more.
It was a must-win game because the Heels didn’t want to fall under. 500 this late in the ACC season, and they had not won a true road game in the so-far confounding campaign. But now they have and, with Boston College coming to town Tuesday night, have a chance to create a little cushion.
The status of Bacot must have made Hubert Davis’ mantra about “when your number is called” resonate with the reserves who all thought they might get in at the Yum! Center in downtown Louisville.
And the bench continued to deliver as it has in recent games.
When Bacot went out late in the first half with two fouls, he already had his 59th career double double in erasing an early Louisville lead and his team ahead 24-21. “And on one ankle, amazing,” Davis said afterward. “He didn’t even practice Thursday or Friday.”
North Carolina forward Armando Bacot (5) tries to keep the ball away from Louisville guard Hercy Miller (15), left, and forward Jae’Lyn Withers (24) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Louisville, Ky., Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023. North Carolina won 80-59. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
The rest of the team was ready to pick up their leader after he sat down.
Freshman back-up Jalen Washington scored on a neat pass from R.J. Davis, Dontrez Styles made a free throw, Washington swished two more, Styles had a dunk on another assist from Davis, and R.J. drained a 3-pointer for a 37-26 advantage at the break. Davis is the smallest guy on the team and the most unsung with another steady all-around game; besides his five assists, he shot 4 of 7, canned two 3-pointers and pulled down 4 rebounds.
Puff Johnson, who started for the still-injured Pete Nance, shot 1 for 5 in the first half but finished with 12 points, including two 3-pointers. D’Marco Dunn, who also had one basket in the first half, added 12 more points after halftime and completed his 25-minute, career-high performance with two long shots, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block while taking his defensive turns on the ‘Ville’s leading scorer El Ellis. Freshman Tyler Nickel even added a late 3-pointer, as Carolina coasted to the 80-59 win that moved the Heels to 12-6 and 4-3.
Louisville, which entered the game with a 2-15 record (0-6 in the ACC), led by eight early thanks to 11 quick points by Ellis, a Durham native and likely the only Cardinal who could get playing time for UNC. Leaky Black and Dunn shut him down for the rest of the half, and while Ellis scored 11 more points most of them were in garbage time as The Tar Heels built their lead to 23.
For a proud program and a significant basketball brand, Louisville has fallen on hard times with former player Kenny Payne serving as their fourth head coach in the last six seasons. The Cards shot 37 percent, missed 14-of-15 attempts from long range and 10-of-28 free throws. So: they turned out to be the perfect punching bag for the hobbling Heels.
Bacot’s availability for the game was all over the charts, and he only told Hubert Davis he felt good enough to start after warm-ups. Depending on how his sprained left ankle responds to his 25 minutes of action will determine if he plays Tuesday night against BC at the Smith Center with a chance to tie Billy Cunningham for the UNC record of 60 career double doubles. His 16 rebounds against Louisville also draws him within 32 of Tyler Hansbrough’s school record of 1,219.
With or without him, Carolina will be a heavy favorite against the Eagles — but the same cannot be said about N.C. State the following Saturday at home. The Wolfpack is proving to be markedly better than its 2022 last-place finish and is now also 4-3 in the ACC after beating 16th-ranked Miami in overtime at PNC Arena just as UNC’s game was getting started.
Besides Clemson, which is sure to be ranked after upsetting Duke late Saturday to move to 7-0 for the first time in its ACC history, the conference remains jumbled in the middle with five teams at 5-2 and three at 4-3.
Thanks to the newly implemented NIL opportunities, the business-savvy Bacot has become a 22-year-old icon on and off the court. The Sunday News & Observer had a long feature on Bacot’s marketing success with local, regional and national companies that his mother and attendee in Louisville, Christie Lomax, estimated to be worth “definitely more than a half-million” before his rash of additional endorsements this season.
Over the summer, while rehabbing his other ankle sprain from the Final Four, Mondo said with certainty that he would not return for his COVID fifth-year next season. But still not listed in the first round of most NBA mock draft boards, Bacot could conceivably make more NIL money than turning pro, where only first-rounders get guaranteed contracts and star players reap the big sponsorship deals.
Two of Black’s three steals turned into fast break baskets and 4 of his 6 points, and his three assists helped the Heels score 27 buckets on 12 feeds, as the fifth-year senior continues his under-the-radar push for NBA draft attention.
The shooting miseries continue for Caleb Love, who is a low first-round to high second-round pick in the mock drafts. Love, who set a UNC record for making at least one 3-pointer in 44 straight games, went 0-7 from the arc and 3-for-14 overall, to extend his shooting slump to six games when he has gone 35-of-90 from the floor and 9-of-37 from 3-point range. Shooting 39 percent and 28 percent leaves Love as the coldest regular on the roster.
Noting Love’s career high of five steals against Louisville, Hubert Davis continues to refer to his junior guard as “a basketball player” who doesn’t have to shoot the lights out to help the team win. But, after last season’s heroics against UCLA and Duke in the NCAA tournament, Love’s ability to turn torrid streak shooter looms large in Carolina getting a high seed and making another deep run in the Big Dance.
Love was the fifth of five players in double figures with 10 against Louisville, and the other four made 19-of-34 to give the team a respectable 47.4 percent from the floor.
In a most unusual way, the Tar Heels are building depth for their critical six-week run ahead.
Photo via AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley.
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