UNC Basketball: Tar Heels blow out Yellow Jackets for fourth ACC victory

The UNC basketball program earns its fourth Atlantic Coast Conference victory of the season with a blowout win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets.

Armando Bacot had another sensational performance on Saturday night, as he guided the Tar Heels to their fourth conference victory of the season, an 88-65 win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Bacot scored 29 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for his seventh consecutive double-double and 12th of the season.

The junior big man hit 10-of-16 shots for the game and an immaculate 9-of-9 at the free throw line. It was Bacot’s third straight game with at least 20 points and 12 rebounds. He now has six 20-point, 10-rebound games this season, most among players in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Tar Heels also got 21 points, six assists and five rebounds from sophomore guard R.J. Davis. He connected on 8-of-11 shots from the floor and 4-of-6 from three-point range. His backcourt running mate, Caleb Love, added 14 points and three assists. Brady Manek scored 11 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists. Dawson Garcia returned to the UNC rotation after a two-game absence (concussion), scoring just four points for the game but grabbing 11 rebounds.

The Tar Heels shot just under 48 percent from the floor for the game, and they went 9-for-25 from beyond the arc. They converted an impressive 19-of-21 at the foul line, outrebounded the Yellow Jackets by 16 and assisted on 20 of their 30 made buckets.

Georgia Tech, now 7-9 on the season and 1-5 in conference play, was led by Jordan Usher, who contributed a team-high 22 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. The only other Georgia Tech player to score in double-figures was reserve guard Deivon Smith, who scored 16 points on a 7-for-11 shooting performance off the bench.

The Yellow Jackets shot well enough overall with a 45.8 percent mark from the floor. They struggled from long-range, though, hitting just 21.4 percent of their attempts (3-for-14).

North Carolina, 12-4 overall and 4-1 in the ACC, will now prepare for a road game against the first-place Miami Hurricanes.

We’ll be back with coverage of that game, as well as all the latest on the UNC basketball program.