Armando Bacot suffers injury in first half against Baylor in NCAA Tournament

North Carolina‘s star big man Armando Bacot suffered a minor injury during the first half against Baylor after going up for a layup that was blocked by a Bears defender. Bacot was shown shaking his right hand and holding his thumb after the shot.

Bacot checked out of the game for a moment following the next dead ball to get his thumb taped. He immediately checked back in and played the remainder of the first half.

The IMG Academy product has 7 points and 6 rebounds on 3-8 shooting. Bacot is typically a near 60 percent shooter, so his below-average first 20 minutes of play can likely be attributed to the thumb injury.

Bacot currently averages 16.5 points and 12.4 rebounds (third in nation) per game. His 59.3 percent clip ranks 17th in the country as well. If the Tar Heels want to continue their tournament run, they’ll need Bacot at full strength.

The extent of the injury is unknown at the time of this writing, but with Bacot remaining in the game through the halftime buzzer, he will likely start the second half. North Carolina currently leads the reigning national champions 42-29 at the break as the Tar Heels look to play spoiler on the Bears’ hopes for back to back titles.

Scott Drew assesses Baylor’s first half performance against UNC

Baylor jumped out to an early 4-0 lead to open Saturday’s matchup against UNC, but it was the Tar Heels that controlled play for the majority of the first half. UNC entered halftime with a 42-29 lead over Baylor.

At the break, Baylor head coach Scott Drew assessed the Bears first half play against UNC.

“Well first, they did a good job on the glass, they did a good job getting 50/50 balls, they did a good job in transition. We picked up our intensity. We’ve got to get better shots and I think we’ll have a much better second half,” Drew said of Baylor’s first half against UNC.

Baylor had six players with at least three points in the first half, using a balanced approach on the offensive end. In the first half, Baylor shot 40% overall and 20% from three, compared to 50% overall and 46.2% from three for UNC. Jeremy Sochan and Adam Flagler had six points apiece, while Dale Bonner and Kendall Brown each contributed five points. Sochan also picked up a technical foul after getting tangled up with a UNC player early on.

UNC was led by a strong shooting display from guard R.J. Davis. Davis went on an 8-0 run by himself at one point in the first half, and he ended the half with 17 points, two assists, two rebounds, and one steal on 5-for-7 shooting, including 4-for-6 from three-point range and 3-for-4 from the free throw line. Big men Brady Manek and Armando Bacot also had strong opening halves for the Tar Heels. Manek had nine first half points, while Bacot put up seven points and grabbed six rebounds.