Bacot Breaks Rebound Record, UNC Routs The Citadel
CHAPEL HILL, NC – Senior Forward Armando Bacot ensured the 16,926 fans at the Dean Smith Center that they would go home happy with a victory!
They did just that, as Bacot’s 14 points and 11 rebounds help the Tar Heels (7-4) put on a clinic in a 100-67 victory over the Citadel Bulldogs from Charleston, SC, which dropped them to 5-5.
This was Bacot’s 55th double-double and sixth this season. With his rebounding performance tonight, Bacot set the UNC record for games with 10 or more rebounds with his 62nd, one more than Hall of Famer Billy Cunningham, who starred for the Heels from 1962-65. Bacot has now put up a double-double in 55-of-110 career games to get to the 50% mark (one double-double every two games).
Other main contributors for the Heels were Junior Guard Caleb Love (St. Louis, MO) with 17 points and six assists, along with four three-pointers, Graduate Student Forward Pete Nance (Akron, OH) completing the game with 16 points and seven rebounds and Freshman Forward Tyler Nickel (Harrisonburg, VA) scoring a season-high 16 points, coming off the bench.
Three players (Nickel, Jalen Washington, and Jackson Watkins) set career-scoring highs and two others (Dontrez Styles and Creighton Lebo) tied their career-scoring highs. Washington had six, Watkins three, Styles nine, and Lebo two points.
On his performance, Nickel explained, “Shooters shoot, you know? After a couple of minutes, once I get a good look, I’ll keep shooting.” He added when discussing the Heels victory, “It was great. The great thing was that my teammates were so happy for my success and this team provides a positive energy when we play well.”
On the team’s spectacular performance, “I didn’t plan to play the bench in the first half,” Heels coach Davis commented. Davis added, “We needed a spark, energy and enthusiasm. We needed it from the bench and we got it on both sides of the floor.”
For Citadel, Sophomore Forward Jackson Price (Hiram, GA) and Senior Forward Stephen Clark (Charlotte, NC) led the way with 15 points each. The stout defense of the Heels hindered Citadel’s ability to shoot the ball at only 40.3%, where they were able only to amass 39.5% after the half.
Not only this was The Tar Heels’ final home non-conference game of the season, but also it their second consecutive home victory, as they defeated Georgia Tech on Saturday afternoon in a 75-59 win.
The next game for the Tar Heels is this upcoming Saturday, when they travel to New York City to face the 23rd-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes at Madison Square Garden at 3:00 PM, on a game televised by CBS for the CBS Sports Classic. On the other hand, Citadel hosts Longwood University from Farmville, VA at 1:00 PM this upcoming Saturday.