Bacot Injured in UNC Men's Basketball's Loss at Virginia

Carolina dropped its eighth straight game at Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena Tuesday night, but did so with one hand tied behind its back.

And that hand just so happened to be the preseason ACC Player of the Year.

Senior center Armando Bacot injured his left ankle just 1:16 into the game and did not return, forcing the Tar Heels — who were already without graduate forward Pete Nance, who sat out a second straight game with a back injury — to improvise. Though the Tar Heels fought admirably without their best player, it wasn’t enough in a 65-58 loss.

Carolina got unexpected production from freshman Jalen Washington, whose 12 first-half points helped UNC turn around an early 10-3 deficit to lead 24-15, a 21-5 run in all. UNC led by two points at halftime and as many as seven early in the second half, but a 23-9 extended Cavalier run quickly restored Virginia’s early advantage and then some. The Cavaliers led by as many as 10 points in the second half.

Virginia’s three-point shooting, poor in the first half (2-11), caught fire in the second. Reserves Ben Vander Plas and Isaac McKneely combined to shoot 4-5 from downtown in the final 20 minutes and were instrumental in the Cavaliers’ rally. Carolina had no answer, as Washington was bottled up to just one point in the second half. Three late three-pointers from Caleb Love, who hadn’t hit a three until then, kept the Tar Heels in it late, but a critical defensive breakdown inside a minute remaining allowed Virginia’s Reece Beekman an open dunk to extend the Cavalier lead to five points at 63-58. UNC wouldn’t score again.

Though Bacot did not return to the game after his injury, he did reappear on the bench in the second half wearing warmups and appeared to be in good spirits. The ankle he injured is not the same one which he rolled during the Final Four in New Orleans. Despite his absence, Carolina still won the rebounding battle 36-32.

R.J. Davis finished as Carolina’s leading scorer with 16 points. Love and Washington each scored 13, but no other Tar Heel finished with more than seven. Vander Plas led all scorers with 17 off the bench for the Cavaliers.

If there is a silver lining to be found, it’s this: Carolina broke the 50-point plateau after not doing so in its previous four games in Charlottesville, and did so without its leading scorer. The Tar Heels next play on Saturday at Louisville, and the availabilities of Bacot and Nance will be up in the air until then. If neither can play, both Seth Trimble and Washington would likely start. It would be the first time the Tar Heels have started two true freshmen under head coach Hubert Davis.

Featured image via The News & Observer/Robert Willett

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Bacot Injured in UNC Men’s Basketball’s Loss at Virginia

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