The UNC men’s basketball team earned its first true road win of the season Saturday afternoon, as a gutsy performance from senior center Armando Bacot powered the Tar Heels to an 80-59 win at Louisville.

Bacot, whose status was up in the air after injuring his ankle at Virginia on Wednesday, nevertheless turned in a vintage performance, scoring 14 points and grabbing 16 rebounds to secure his 59th career double-double. That means Bacot can potentially tie Billy Cunningham’s school record of 60 when UNC hosts Boston College next Tuesday. Bacot also drew nearer to Tyler Hansbrough’s school record for total rebounds. Bacot now has 1,187 in his career, 32 shy of Hansbrough’s 1,219.

It didn’t take long for Bacot to inch closer to history, as he’d already recorded a double-double before halftime with 11 points and 10 rebounds in just 15 minutes in the first half. He was a major reason why the Tar Heels were able to dig out of an early eight-point hole against the Cardinals, who led 15-7 after seven minutes. But Bacot scored Carolina’s next two baskets (both dunks), sparking a 17-4 run to give the Tar Heels the lead. They wouldn’t trail again for the rest of the afternoon.

Five Tar Heels ended the night scoring in double figures: Bacot, R.J. Davis, Caleb Love, Puff Johnson (a season-high 12 points) and D’Marco Dunn, who set a new career-high with 14 points in 26 minutes off the bench. Perhaps even more impressively, Dunn played tough defense on Louisville’s leading scorer El Ellis. Ellis scored 11 points in the game’s first 6:32, but was limited to just 11 more in the remaining 26 minutes. Ellis ended the game just 6-16 from the floor.

Like Bacot, Love also made a little bit of history, though not the good kind. The junior guard ended the day 0-7 on three-pointers, snapping his UNC-record streak of 45 consecutive games with a made three. As a team, Carolina shot just 7-24 (29.2 percent) from downtown, with Dunn, Johnson and Davis each making a pair.

Love did nab five of UNC’s 11 steals (a season-high for a regulation game), part of 14 Louisville turnovers which led to 23 Carolina points. UNC also held decisive advantages in rebounds (40-31), bench points (26-10) and fast break points (17-2).

Carolina’s record in true road environments now stands at 1-4 this season, after the team finished 8-3 in such games last year. The win also improves the Tar Heels to 4-3 in ACC play. They’re part of a major logjam in the middle of the conference standings, as seven teams have four wins as of the writing of this article.

The Tar Heels will have a chance to break free of the peloton in the next week, as the team will host a two-game homestand against Boston College and NC State. The Eagles visit the Smith Center Tuesday night at 7 p.m., while the Wolfpack will ome calling on Saturday at 5 p.m.

 

Featured image via Inside Carolina/James Hawkins

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