Tar Heels Survive Road OT Duel at Louisville

LOUISVILLE, KY — Brady Manek scored 24 points and Armando Bacot scored 19 points, and grabbed a career-high 22 rebounds and North Carolina beat Louisville in a 90-83 overtime thriller on Tuesday night.

The North Carolina Tar Heels (16-6 overall, 8-3 ACC) went to Louisville, knowing that they were in an uphill battle, despite coming off a recent home victory over their in-state rivals, NC State.

The young team also overcame a hostile environment at the KFC Yum! Center, where they squandered a ten-point lead in the process. The win was their fourth consecutive victory. Carolina hasn’t lost a game since a road loss against Wake Forest on January 22.

The Tar Heels were led by Graduate Forward Brady Manek (Harrah, OK/Oklahoma), who recorded 24 points and Junior Forward Armando Bacot (Richmond, VA) having 19 points and 22 rebounds. The other three starters recorded double-figures – Sophomore Guard RJ Davis (White Plains, NY) recorded 18 points, Sophomore Caleb Love (St. Louis, MO) added 16 points and finally, Senior Forward Leaky Black (Concord, NC) contributed to 13 points.

“This is one of the greatest ones I’ve been in, for sure,” Manek explained. He added, “The emotions of the game, the back-and-forth of scoring the ball and it was an intense game. You can’t describe the atmosphere that occurred 25 minutes ago. It was a great atmosphere with the crowd.” He also pointed out, “We started playing hard, making baskets down the stretch and doing our best on defense and it was so much fun.”

“We were just staying together. Me and Caleb made some plays we usually don’t make,” Bacot stated. He added, “In the past, we would tuck our heads and be down, even after being down by four. We had to come out to be tough and fight.”

First-year Head Coach Hubert Davis on the team’s attitude, “It was really good. It was really positive and it was one of the things we’ve talked about today.” He also pointed out, “We talked about togetherness. Our will, energy and our want-to has to be done together.” He insisted, “This is an experience to enjoy and not to be feared. Not to be nervous nor scared, but to enjoy.” On their composure on this game in comparison to other games, Davis observed, “That was something different than something in the past. Previously, when we couldn’t change it, we couldn’t stop it. Now, we can change it and stop it. We were able to change our turnovers and other things to make positive plays on both ends of the floor.”

The bright spot for Louisville came off the bench. It was Durham, NC native Junior Forward El Ellis, who starred at Quality Education Academy in Winston-Salem, NC, who recorded 25 points. The Cardinals also received solid contributions from Sophomore Forward Matt Cross (Beverly, MA) who recorded 13 points and 15 rebounds, along with Redshirt Sophomore Forward – Charlotte native Jae’Lyn Withers, who recorded 12 points.

The Tar Heels look to continue their win streak in their next home game on Saturday at 6 PM, against their arch-rival – Duke Blue Devils, in a game televised by ESPN. The game will be at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill NC. On the other hand, Louisville will travel to Syracuse, NY on Saturday, to face conference foe – the Syracuse Orange at 2 PM at the Carrier Dome. The game will be televised on either ESPN or ESPN2.