UNC Basketball: Bacot becoming a force, notches 4th double-double

Armando Bacot is quickly becoming a go-to piece for the UNC basketball program, and will be a force throughout the rest of the season.

It was Carolina’s toughest frontline opponent of the season on Friday as Oregon uses four players 6-foot-8 or taller, but they were no match for UNC basketball and Armando Bacot.

The 6-foot-10 freshman for the Tar Heels has had a good start to the season, and outside of his three minutes of action against UNC-Wilmington due to a head injury, he had finished with at least seven points and eight rebounds in all but one game on the season. Even more impressive are the two games of more than 14 rebounds he has already.

After a poor effort against Michigan on Thursday in which he was seemingly benched in the second half, the freshman big man responded well and was the reason for the Carolina victory.

Despite not being someone with a lot of lift, similar to former Carolina big Kennedy Meeks, Bacot has been a force on defense around the rim. Against the length of Oregon, Bacot was everywhere, altering shots left and right as he finished with six blocks, also attributing to Oregon’s front court going 4-for-19 from the field.

Not only was he everywhere on the defensive side of the ball, he played a lot like the five-star McDonald’s All-American that committed to Carolina, as he was unguardable with 23 points while missing just two shots. More impressively is the 9-for-10 he shot from the free throw line, after going just 7-for-17 going into the game.

Though the Tar Heels got off to a 4-for-8 start from three to open up the game, the lids closed on the basket as they went just 2-for-15 the rest of the afternoon. With yet another game shooting under 45 percent, Bacot continued to be a force on the glass with his ability to rebound the ball offensively. With seven of his 12 rebounds coming from the offensive glass, Bacot got easy points for the Tar Heels when it was needed and masked the poor shooting for most of the afternoon.

Bacot has had these games so far this season though, so this is nothing new. What is new, is the productivity for an entire game. With just 26 minutes being his season-high coming into Friday, Bacot was up-and-down the court for 31 minutes without really losing much of his motor.

As the season moves on, while Carolina absolutely needs to improve on its 30.3 percent shooting from three, having Bacot turn into that Kennedy Meeks type player that he was for the final portion of his senior year, could be a critical development for the Tar Heels season outlook.