The Tar Heels had no trouble with Boston College in the second round of the ACC Tournament Wednesday night in Greensboro, dispatching the Eagles 85-61.
𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐋𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐍.#CarolinaFamily | @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/nLtWmjjgju
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) March 9, 2023
After shooting poorly in the season-ending loss against Duke, Carolina scorched the nets all night long against the Eagles. The Tar Heels made six of their first eight shots and finished 34-62 (54.8 percent) on the night, its second-highest mark of the season and the highest against a power-conference team.
We talked about from an offensive standpoint, for us to have success, one, it started on the defensive end, so we can get the rebound and we can get out in transition,” said head coach Hubert Davis. “Two, we had to have great spacing and balance, ball movement and player movement to give us an opportunity to attack the paint and drive so that we could get to the free-throw line. And I just felt like we did that really well tonight.”
Carolina outrebounded the Eagles 33-26 and held a 16-8 advantage in second-chance points.
The night could’ve been soured late in the first half, as senior center Armando Bacot went down after an Eagle stepped on his ankle fighting for a rebound. Bacot stayed down briefly before hopping off the court, not putting any weight on the tender ankle. Though Bacot did not return in the first half, he started the second and finished with with 10 points and six rebounds in just 18 minutes.
Armando Bacot limps off the floor after injuring his ankle in the first half. (Image via Todd Melet)
“He’s tough as nails,” junior guard Caleb Love said of Bacot. “He wanted to be out there for this team. I don’t have no doubt that he’ll be ready to play tomorrow.”
Fifth-year wing Leaky Black painted a different picture.
“Armando’s gonna eat all this up,” he said. “He’s good. I talked to him… so dramatic. He just loves the media.”
Love was Carolina’s leading scorer, dropping in 22 points on 9-20 shooting (3-8 on three-pointers). He and R.J. Davis combined for 40 points.
In a tournament in which UNC will likely need to win four games in four days, the Tar Heels also got 23 bench points. Five reserves scored, with sophomore guard D’Marco Dunn contributing eight points.
“I felt like everybody that played in the game made an impact play to put us in the position to be able to win,” Hubert Davis said. “When you’re in a situation where you’re playing four games, possibly four games in four days, you need depth, and the guys off the bench were ready to go, and they did a really good job tonight.”
As a team, Carolina distributed 16 assists against the Eagles, its most in a game since February 11 against Clemson. The Tar Heels’ seven turnovers also tied a season-low. All of that efficiency contributed to a lead which grew to as large as 27 points and was never seriously threatened after UNC’s initial push in the first half.
“Coach Davis talked about how we need to just make a little bit of a change within ourselves,” said graduate forward Pete Nance, who finished with 10 points and tied a season-high with four blocks. “I think all year long, we’ve let teams kind of climb back into games a little bit, and I think it was good for our confidence to kind of maintain that lead throughout the second half and keep them at distance.”
Now, the No. 7 seed Tar Heels will take on No. 2 seed Virginia in the ACC quarterfinals Thursday night in Greensboro. Carolina and Virginia split the two regular-season meetings, with each home team winning. In ACC Tournament play, the Tar Heels have won three of the last four against the Cavaliers, including a win in the quarterfinals of last year’s tournament. Virginia will be playing its first game in Greensboro, whereas Carolina will be on a less-than-24-hours turnaround. With that in mind, Black said he appreciated UNC’s relatively heavy bench usage against the Eagles.
“It’s just a next man up mentality,” he said. “I’m so glad that we got the lead the way we did, to allow some of the bench guys to get their feet wet… you never know. Next man up. Anything can happen… due to the lead we had today, they might be more confident to make plays.”
Against Virginia’s vaunted pack line defense, UNC’s starters will likely have to play for longer stretches. It makes those restful last few minutes against the Eagles matter even more. And especially so when considering the game after that.
And the game after that.
One down, three to go.
Featured image via Todd Melet. For a full photo gallery of the game, click here.
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