Bacot Leads Tar Heels Past Radford, 86-70 - University of North Carolina Athletics
November 6, 2023 | Men's Basketball
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.— Armando Bacot had a double-double as North Carolina eventually pulled away to an 86-70 win over Radford on Monday night in the Smith Center in the season opener for both teams.
Bacot led all players with 13 points and nine rebounds by halftime and posted his school-record 69th double-double with 25 points and 13 boards, both game highs.
The Highlanders led for several minutes in the first half, and the Tar Heels didn't mount their first double-digit lead until 71-61 with under eight minutes remaining in the game.
In the second half, Carolina committed just three turnovers while its defense held Radford to 34.4 percent shooting and just 29 points after RU had shot 50 percent in the opening period.
"We took care of the ball," RJ Davis said of the second-half improvement. "I know in the first half we allowed a lot of turnovers, a lot of silly ones. We just learned from our defense as well. Just talking early on the ball screen and being in rotation got better in the second half. We are going to grow as a team and we have a lot of experience, maturity and a lot of talented players."
Carolina had four double-figure scorers, also getting 13 points from both Davis and Cormac Ryan, along with 12 by Harrison Ingram. Freshman point guard Elliot Cadeau had five points and six assists, the most assists by a freshman in a Carolina debut since Bobby Frasor recorded seven against Gardner-Webb in the 2005-06 season opener.
DaQuan Smith and Kenyon Giles led Radford with 18 points apiece.
Ranked No. 19 by the Associated Press and No. 21 by the coaches in the preseason polls, the Tar Heels (1-0) won their 19th consecutive season opener and improved to 102-12 all-time in season openers. Radford fell to 0-1.
How It Happened
First Half
• Carolina roared out of the gate, hitting 7 of its first 9 shot attempts of the game, including 3 for 3 from three-point range, to lead 17-10 at the first media timeout.
• The Highlanders also shot well to start the night, hitting 10 of their first 18 tries to trail just 25-22 after the first two official timeouts.
• Radford hung tough throughout much of the opening 20 minutes, holding a slight lead for over seven minutes of game action until the Tar Heels closed the first half on an 8-0 run to lead, 46-41, at the break.
• Bacot had 13 points and nine rebounds in the first half.
• Carolina shot 16 for 29 from the floor (55.2 percent) but allowed the Highlanders to shoot 50.0 percent in the first half.
• Ten Tar Heels saw action before halftime.
Second Half
• Radford hit just 11 of 32 shots in the second half, including only 2 of 11 three-point attempts.
• After points in the paint were tied 22-22 in the first half, the Tar Heels had a 26-12 edge in the paint in the second.
• Carolina committed only three second-half turnovers after its eight first-half miscues helped Radford stay in the game.
Inside the Box Score
• Carolina's initial lineup included returning starters Bacot and Davis along with transfers Paxson Wojcik, Ryan and Ingram.
• Wojcik started the game for the Tar Heels despite needing 10 stitches to mend a cut to his forehead suffered when he caught an errant elbow from Bacot during pregame shootaround on Monday afternoon.
• The Tar Heels made their first five three-point field goal attempts of the night and finished 7 for 20 from behind the arc.
• Carolina shot 52.5 percent as a team and won its 24th consecutive game when shooting 50+ percent from the field.
• Bacot's double-double was the 69th of his career, most in UNC history. He also posted the 27th 20-point game of his career.
• Freshmen Cadeau and Zayden High entered the game together at the 15:58 mark of the first half, making their first official collegiate appearances.
• Carolina improved to 3-0 all-time against Radford, including 2-0 in the Smith Center.
• The Tar Heels also improved to 464-86 all-time in the Smith Center, including 224-18 against non-conference opponents.
• The win was Carolina's 13th in a row against a non-ACC opponent in the Smith Center.
• UNC players wore special shooting shirts during pregame warmups to honor the late Walter Davis, the uncle of Tar Heel head coach Hubert Davis and whose jersey hangs in the Smith Center rafters of the arena that held a moment of silence in his honor on Monday night. Walter passed away unexpectedly last week.
Up Next
UNC will return to action on Sunday (Nov. 12) at 2 p.m. at home against Lehigh. Tickets are available now.
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🎥: Win Column 🆚 Radford pic.twitter.com/mhvT5L9Q1k
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) November 8, 2023