Armando Bacot makes history in UNC's championship game loss
Center Armando Bacot put up historic numbers this season during North Carolina’s run to the National Championship. Unfortunately for the Tar Heels, that run came to an end on Monday night with their loss to Kansas in the national title game. But despite UNC’s loss in the championship game, Bacot continued to put up historic numbers.
UNC played in six games during the NCAA Tournament, and Bacot had a double-double in each of them. He is now the only player to ever have six double-doubles in a single NCAA Tournament. Additionally, Bacot picked up his 31st double-double of the season in UNC’s championship game defeat. He tied David Robinson’s single-season Division I record for double-doubles in a single season.
The most impressive part of Bacot’s performance, at least late in the tournament, is that he was practically doing it on one leg. In UNC’s victory over Duke in the Final Four, Bacot rolled his ankle which resulted in him being hobbled for the rest of the tournament.
Even on an injured ankle, Bacot completed his 31st double-double of the season before the first half of UNC-Kansas even came to an end.
Bacot was one of UNC’s anchors on its impressive run this season
The Tar Heels really turned things on late in the season, carrying serious momentum into the NCAA Tournament. In UNC’s opening round victory over Marquette, he had 17 points and ten rebounds. Then, Bacot had 15 points and 16 rebounds in the second round against Baylor. In the third round he had 14 points and 15 rebounds, and Bacot turned it to another gear following that point.
In UNC’s Elite Eight win over Saint Peter’s, Bacot had 20 points and 22 rebounds, and he followed that up with 11 points and 21 rebounds against Duke in the Final Four. In Monday night’s championship game loss to Kansas, Bacot had 15 points and 15 rebounds.
At the time of Bacot’s injury, which has wound up being a controversial one, UNC trailed Kansas by just one point. But without Bacot on the floor on the final possessions, the Tar Heels fell short of forcing overtime, falling 72-69.
Bacot’s career in Chapel Hill began during the 2019-2020 season, where he started all of his 32 games, averaging 9.6 points and 8.3 rebounds in 24.4 minutes per game. In the 2020-2021 season, Bacot started 28 games and averaged 12.3 points and 7.8 rebounds in 22.7 minutes per game. This season, Bacot emerged as a star for the Tar Heels. On the year, he led UNC in scoring with 16.3 points and also in rebounds with 13.1.