North Carolina’s Armando Bacot became the all-time rebounding leader in UNC history as he pulled down 18 rebounds in leading the Tar Heels to an 80-69 victory over rival N.C. State in Chapel Hill. (1\/21) <\/p>\n
Bacot, who had 23 points, was seven for seven from the line in a game that saw 43 fouls including 27 on the Wolfpack. As a team, Carolina was 36 of 39 from the line while State finished 12 of 12.<\/p>\n
Carolina’s R.J. Davis hit all 14 of his free throw attempts as he led the Heels in scoring with 26 points.<\/p>\n
But the focus was on Bacot who picked up his record-breaking 2220th rebound with about seven minutes to play to pass Tyler Hansbrough, who was on hand to congratulate Bacot after the game. <\/p>\n
“Armando has had an unbelievable season and an unbelievable career,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “When you pass guys like Billy Cunningham and Tyler Hansbrough, you’re doing something pretty good.”<\/p>\n
The Bacot accomplishment may have been overlooked had the Wolfpack been able to hold on to a lead they had at 42-41 following a Jarkel Joiner jumper. But Carolina went on a 12-2 run to take its biggest lead of the game to that point at 53-44 with 12:45 to go.<\/p>\n
During that run, Bacot got an offensive rebound and scored which resulted in Bacot’s 61st career double-double, breaking the UNC career record of Hall-of-Famer Billy Cunningham, who graduated in 1965.<\/p>\n
The Tar Heels got its first double-figure lead at 59-49 with just over 10 minutes to play when Caleb Love threaded a pass to Leaky Black in traffic for a bucket.<\/p>\n
The closest State got the rest of the way came seconds later after Black was charged with a Flagrant 2 foul after he hit Terquavion Smith while trying to block a shot. The game was delayed as Smith, who apparently injured his elbow and neck, was toted off the court on a stretcher.<\/p>\n
Coach Davis, who began his comments expressing concern for Smith, made it clear than it was not an intentional hit from Black, who was ejected from the game. “You can’t get any nicer than Leaky,” he said. “He was sorry that happened. Leaky is such a sweet guy. He would never do anything to hurt or injure anyone.”<\/p>\n
After the free throws, State scored on the inbounds play to cut the margin to six at 59-53 with 9:38 to go. The Heels went on a 7-0 run, all on free throws, to stretch the lead to 13 at 66-53 for their largest margin of the game. It never got closer than seven the rest of the way. <\/p>\n
N.C. State, now 15-5 overall and 5-4 in the ACC, was led by Joiner and big man D.J. Burns who scored 18 points each. <\/p>\n
Carolina, now 14-6 overall and 6-3 in the conference, play at Syracuse Tuesday at 9 p.m.<\/p>\n