North Carolina big man Armando Bacot discusses his team's comeback overtime victory against Ohio State

The North Carolina Tar Heels trailed for most of their game against the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday night, but thanks to Pete Nance, they were able to drill a shot at the buzzer at the end of regulation to force overtime. The Heels won 89-84 in overtime, and they were carried by their superstar center, Armando Bacot, who racked up the 56th double-double of his prolific career. He carried North Carolina on his back for much of the game. Following the win in Madison Square Garden, Bacot spoke with CBS sideline reporter Jenny Dell.

Armando Bacot discussed the comeback victory vs. Ohio State

Bacot talked about what he found out about his teammates. After trailing for most of the game, they were able to pull out a comeback victory.

“I mean, we just had to fight. Early in the first half, they punched us. And that was coach’s message to us at halftime. We just had to fight. We were soft. But I mean, at some point, we’ve gotta draw the line and I feel like today, we drew that line,” Bacot said.

Bacot has been dealing with an injured shoulder and he told Dell that he was feeling about 70 percent. Dell asked him how he was able to dig deep and be the catalyst for the ‘Heels, despite being injured. “My love for North Carolina. I mean, I love this school. I love these fans. I love everything about it. And I would die for this school, I really would,” Bacot said.

Bacot had a dominant performance, pumping in 28 points on 11 of 19 shooting from the field. He also corralled 15 rebounds, giving him his fifth straight double-double of the 2022-2023 campaign.

The gifted big man has already endeared himself to North Carolina fans forever, but that second quote will only further cement him in the hearts of Tar Heel fans forever. He’s been a double-double machine for them over the years and it’ll be interesting to see if he can get 100 percent healthy as the season progresses.