Any time senior center Armando Bacot sets a new career high, you know it’s a record worth reading about. The preseason ACC Player of the Year recorded his first double-double of the young season in style Sunday afternoon against James Madison, scoring 19 points and grabbing a career-high 23 rebounds in the 80-64 win.
Heels win.#CarolinaFamily | @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/gVZl3hhm6M
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) November 20, 2022
The double-double now gives Bacot a total of 50 in his four-year career in Chapel Hill, one shy of tying Antawn Jamison for second-most in Carolina history. Billy Cunningham holds the all-time school record with 60.
Bacot’s effort was part of a bounce-back performance on the glass for the Tar Heels, who controlled the paint to the tune of a 50-34 rebounding advantage. The team had been out-rebounded against both UNC-Wilmington and College of Charleston this season. Bacot and fifth-year wing Leaky Black combined for the bulk of Sunday’s rebounds, with Black’s 12 also setting a new career high.
The Tar Heels came out firing in the first half, leading by as many as 21 late in the period on the strength of 51.7 percent shooting. Bacot had already recorded his double-double by the time the horn sounded, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 boards in the first 20 minutes. Sophomore guard R.J. Davis joined Bacot in double figures, scoring 12 in the first half on 4-8 shooting. A three-pointer by Davis gave UNC its largest lead at 45-24 before the Dukes scored at the buzzer.
James Madison took that momentum into and back out of the locker room, opening the second half on a 10-2 run to cut the Tar Heel lead back down to single digits. An antsy Smith Center likely saw flashes of Saturday night’s loss by the UNC football team at the hands of Georgia Tech, but the hardwood Tar Heels never let the Dukes closer than eight points the rest of the way. Carolina stretched its second-half lead to as many as 19 points before the buzzer sounded on the final margin of 16.
Junior Puff Johnson made his first appearance of the season after sitting out the first three games with knee soreness, and the fan favorite made his presence felt with six points in 13 minutes. Johnson also played quality defense, drawing a charge on the Dukes in the first half.
UNC’s defense as a whole was able to contain the high-flying James Madison offense. Coming into the game, the Dukes were averaging 105 per game and 58.6 percent shooting in their four wins. Sunday’s marks of 64 points and 34.8 percent shooting were both by far the team’s worst of the season.
For the Tar Heels, Sunday’s game was its last at home until December. Up next, the team will travel to Oregon to participate in the Phil Knight Invitational over the Thanksgiving holiday. After that it travels to road games at Indiana (as part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge) and Virginia Tech in the ACC opener. UNC finally returns home on December 10 to face Georgia Tech.
Featured image via Todd Melet. For a full photo gallery of the game, click here.
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