The awards keep rolling in for UNC junior forward Armando Bacot. After the big man was named ACC Player of the Week for the second consecutive week Monday, he earned an even higher honor Tuesday: the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week Award.

The award is given out weekly by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. Bacot is the first UNC player to be named a national player of the week since Marcus Paige. Bacot is also the second ACC player to win the USBWA award this season, after Wake Forest’s Alondes Williams did so in December. Ironically enough, Auburn forward Walker Kessler, who transferred away from UNC following the 2020-21 season, also won the award earlier this season.

Bacot scored 29 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in a win over Georgia Tech last Saturday, a week after scoring 29 points and pulling down 22 rebounds in a win against Virginia. He is the first Tar Heel to record consecutive games of 29 points and 12 rebounds since Charlie Scott in 1970. His 12 double-doubles rank first in the ACC and second in the nation, and he is currently the only ACC player to average more than 10 rebounds per game.

Bacot and the Tar Heels are in action Tuesday night at Miami. The Hurricanes sit atop the ACC standings, but rank 348th in the country in total rebounding.

 

Featured image via Todd Melet

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