UNC Men’s Basketball Dominates Boston College To Reach ACC Quarterfinals

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) – Caleb Love scored 22 points, RJ Davis hit four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points and North Carolina kept alive its NCAA Tournament hopes with an 85-61 win over Boston College Wednesday night (March 8) in the second round of the ACC Tournament.

Armando Bacot had 10 points, six rebounds and three assists in 18 minutes for No. 7 seed North Carolina (20-12). The 6-foot-11 senior left the game with about five minutes left in the first half due to an apparent ankle injury. He started the second half before returning to the bench for good with 14:27 to play and the Tar Heels leading 58-31.

Bacot, Love, and Davis scored eight points apiece in a 29-12 first-half run that gave the Tar Heels a 33-16 lead with 7:45 left before intermission and Boston College trailed by double figures the rest of the way.

Makai Ashton-Langford scored 16 points, Jaeden Zackery added 15, and Quinten Post 13 for 10th-seeded Boston College (16-17).

UNC hit 10 3-pointers, shot 55% (34 of 62) from the field, and committed just seven turnovers.

North Carolina, which lost 72-69 to Kanas in the 2022 national championship game and was ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll, is likely in need of an ACC championship – or at least an appearance in the title game – to earn a tourney bid. The Tar Heels have won four of their last five games.

Noting Second Round Game 3

– North Carolina (20-11) will face No. 2 seed Virginia (23-6) in Thursday evening’s 7 p.m. quarterfinal game. The teams split a pair of regular-season meetings, with each side winning at home.

– UNC improved to 106-51 all-time in the ACC Tournament and to 4-1 in second-round games. The Tar Heels are 43-20 in ACC Tournament games in Greensboro, 119-35 all-time in games played at the Coliseum and 127-39 in the city of Greensboro.

– Entering Wednesday, North Carolina had the same ACC Tournament winning percentage in Greensboro as it had in all other venues (.677419). With Wednesday’s win over Boston College, the Tar Heels improved to 43-20 (.68254) in Greensboro to go with their 63-30 mark elsewhere.

– Boston College (16-17) is 13-18 all-time in the ACC Tournament and 6-9 in tourney games played at the Greensboro Coliseum.

– The win gave the Tar Heels a season sweep versus the Eagles following UNC’s 72-64 homecourt win on Jan. 17.

– UNC is now 22-6 all-time versus the Eagles, including 20-5 since Boston College joined the ACC for the 2005-06 season. The Tar Heels have won four straight in the series and 16 of the last 17. UNC is 2-1 versus the Eagles all-time in the ACC Tournament.

– UNC junior guard Caleb Love led all scorers with 22 points. It marked his 29th double-figure scoring game of the season and his 17th in a row. The Tar Heels are now 6-5 this season when Love scores at least 20 points.

– The Tar Heels scored 12 points off BC turnovers in the game’s first 12 minutes.

 – UNC’s field-goal percentage of .548 is its highest in the ACC Tournament since a .589 performance in the 2016 quarterfinals.

– The No. 7 seed is now 6-3 all-time versus the No. 10 seed in the ACC Tournament.

Photo: Maggie Hobson, courtesy of ACC Tournament.