UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Cruises Past the Eagles
by Derrick Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team faced the Boston College Eagles on Tuesday night and they led the game from start to finish. It was an old-school inside battle between Armando Bacot and Quentin Post. Each big man took turns trying to impose their will upon one another. Armando Bacot got the best in the big-man battle with 20 points and 16 rebounds. Armando Bacot has now tied Billy Cunningham for all-time double-doubles with 60.
The Tar Heels had a seven to ten-point stiff-arm on the Eagles for most of the game. North Carolina shot 29 three-pointers and had only 8 assists in the game, allowing Boston College to hang around. They got to within one point with 5 minutes left in regulation before Caleb Love went on a 5-0 run to open the game back up and gave the Heels some breathing room.
UNC Game Stats
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| Boston College 8-11 | 26 | 38 | 64 |
| North Carolina 13-6 | 31 | 41 | 72 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| A. Bacot | 20 | 16 | 3 | 8/11 | 0/0 | 4/7 | 4 | 35 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| R. Davis | 18 | 0 | 3 | 6/13 | 4/7 | 2/2 | 3 | 31 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| C. Love | 16 | 1 | 0 | 7/18 | 2/10 | 0/1 | 1 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| P. Nance | 6 | 5 | 1 | 2/7 | 2/4 | 0/0 | 2 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| L. Black | 5 | 6 | 1 | 2/7 | 1/4 | 0/1 | 1 | 37 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| D. Dunn | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 1/2 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| P. Johnson | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0/3 | 0/2 | 3/4 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| S. Trimble | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| T. Nickel | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| Q. Post | 17 | 5 | 1 | 7/11 | 0/1 | 3/4 | 5 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| J. Zackery | 14 | 1 | 0 | 6/14 | 0/2 | 2/2 | 2 | 37 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| M. Ashton-Langford | 8 | 4 | 1 | 2/9 | 0/2 | 4/4 | 2 | 35 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| D. Langford Jr. | 8 | 3 | 1 | 3/6 | 0/0 | 2/2 | 3 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| P. Aligbe | 6 | 4 | 1 | 3/4 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| T. Bickerstaff | 7 | 4 | 1 | 3/5 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 3 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| C. Penha Jr. | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| D. McGlockton | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Kelley III | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| M. Madsen | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
UNC Bright Spots
Armando Bacot had 20 points, 16 rebounds, and 3 assists.
RJ Davis had 18 points, 4 assists, and 1 steal.
Caleb Love had 16 points and 1 rebound.
Needs Work
The Tar Heels need to come out with more energy, urgency, and effort to start and finish games. Their lackadaisical play allows their opponents to get confidence that they have a chance to win.
The team must also be better with their shot selection, move the ball more often and take advantage of their mismatches on offense to give them a more balanced offensive attack in the half-court. They took too many shots from the perimeter including 29 three-pointers.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels improve to 13-6 on the season and 5-3 in ACC play. They need to get everyone healthy so that they can build some momentum for the final stretch of the season. North Carolina needs to continue to get positive contributions from the bench to take some of the pressure off the starters. Next up is NC State on Saturday at 5 pm.