Photo credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
Armando Bacot Bounces Back, Passes UNC Basketball Legend on All-Time List
Armando Bacot wasn't the star of the UNC basketball show in the 11th-ranked Tar Heels' 81-69 win over previously unbeaten No. 7 Oklahoma at the Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte on Wednesday night. No, that honor again belongs to early ACC Player of the Year frontrunner and clear All-American candidate, RJ Davis.
In what was the squad's fifth battle against a ranked opponent in the past six games (an admirable 4-2 across that daunting stretch), Davis tallied 23 points, leading UNC (8-3, 1-0 ACC) in scoring for the seventh straight time.
But it was Bacot's bounce-back effort from his subpar outing in Saturday's loss to Kentucky that felt indicative of the team's resiliency as a whole. The 23-year-old graduate big man finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, one assist, and three blocks.
Not exactly jaw-dropping numbers. Still, from start to finish, it was a strong all-around performance for him and his teammates.
They never trailed. And the fifth-year Tar Heel even confidently knocked down a three, his second of the season in only four attempts, to help stretch the lead to 57-43 at the under-12 media timeout in the second half.
However, it was at the charity stripe following the under-4 timeout where Armando Bacot got his last two points of the night — another timely cushion to the Tar Heels' lead at 70-61 — to tie and then pass former UNC basketball star forward Antawn Jamison at No. 8 on the program's all-time scoring list.
Bacot's 1,975 career points put him within seven of tying No. 7 Larry Miller. Plus, he now needs only 25 more to become only the seventh member of the Tar Heels' 2,000-point club.
Both of those distinctions could come as soon as the team's non-conference finale against Charleston Southern in the Dean E. Smith Center on Dec. 29.
Stay tuned to All Tar Heels on SI.com for more UNC basketball news.
