By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — Armando Bacot made the case before the season that this group of Tar Heels wouldn’t play down to the opponent like they did last year.
No. 19 North Carolina showed Sunday afternoon that it still hasn’t shaken that tendency, as winless Lehigh hung around until the last 12 minutes of the game thanks to some cold UNC shooting.
But the Tar Heels pulled away for a 90–68 victory at the Smith Center over the Mountain Hawks (0–3) and possibly got their first lesson of the season about consistent effort.
Making it harder was Lehigh playing at such a slow pace, which forced UNC to play defense for long half-court possessions and kept the Tar Heels from going at the fast pace they prefer.
“It’s early in the season,” Bacot said. “So, we’re still trying to figure out lineups, playing a lot of different guys and trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t work. I thought this was an encouraging win for us just because of the pace they can play at.”
That pace reminded him of playing Virginia.
Bacot, with his 70th career double-double (22 points and 20 rebounds), fellow veteran RJ Davis (22 points, 3 of 6 from 3-point range) and junior Stanford transfer Harrison Ingram (14 points, 6 of 11 from the floor, 7 rebounds) were consistent on offense, but that can’t be said for most of the rest of the team.
“They are a very slow team, and we like to play fast and, early on, I thought it affected us somewhat,” said Bacot, who scored at least 20 points for the 28th time in his career and notched his third career game with at least 20 points and at least 20 rebounds. “As the game went on, we kind of locked in on our principles and didn’t try to gamble and get them out of the sets and stuff because it’s tough playing a team that likes to play for 25 seconds. It’s kind of like UVa and, a lot of times, it kind of throws you off, especially for a team that likes to get up and down.”
Bacot passed Bobby Lewis and Marcus Paige in UNC career scoring and is 11th with 1,856, just behind Walter Davis’ total of 1,863.
“I think they scored off of our mistakes; a couple of times when we relaxed, and that was one of the keys going into the game was not to relax,” said RJ Davis, who scored 20 or more points for the 13th time and has multiple 3-pointers in six of his last seven games. “I think sometimes we just relaxed, and they were able to capitalize off that. I think we just need to learn from that going forward.”
Ingram said that shifting to the proper mindset on defense turned the game around.
“We know we can score against anybody,” said Ingram, agreeing that Lehigh’s pace creates challenges. “You can’t sleep on defense — off screens, back screens, ball screens — and we just had to lock in and defend.”
UNC coach Hubert Davis had high praise for Bacot’s approach this season
“Armando has been amazing throughout his entire career, but there’s a sense of urgency that I haven’t seen in him, and I think that’s because this is it,” Davis said. “There’s no more after this. And there’s a passion, and there’s a desire in him to want to leave on a good note, whatever that looks like, and so I love that he plays that way. That’s something we need every game.”
Davis said that Ingram is proving to be a versatile threat.
“He’s got great size, so if you put him at the three as a big guard, you saw tonight he has the ability to be able to post up and finish around the basket,” Coach Davis said. “You put a bigger guy on him, and he’s really comfortable out on the perimeter and can come off ball screens. He can shoot threes. He’s an excellent distributor. I’m glad he’s on our team. And his versatility, his size, and athleticism allow us to do a number of different things, not just on the offensive end, but defensively as well.”
Lehigh pulled within one on Keith Higgins Jr.’s jumper with 13:40 left, but UNC used a 12–1 run to take a 25–15 lead. After the Tar Heels missed six of their first seven 3-point attempts, back-to-back RJ Davis 3-pointers shoved the lead to 33–18.
A 6–0 Mountain Hawks run cut it to eight before UNC took a 43–34 halftime lead. After Lehigh combined for 10 3-pointers in its first two games, it scored seven in the first half.
Carolina (2–0) started the second half cold, missing six of its first seven shots before Bacot hit a hook shot four minutes into the half. Lehigh went on a 7–0 run to cut the UNC lead to three on a Tyler Whitney-Sidney jumper with 13:25 left.
UNC seized control with nine straight points, capped by Elliot Cadeau’s fast-break layup. That was part of a 14–2 run, with an Ingram 3-pointer pushing the lead to 15.
NOTES — The Tar Heels play their last of three non-conference home games to start the season at 8 p.m. Friday against UC Riverside (ACC Network). The Highlanders took a 1–1 record into Sunday’s game at Portland. They beat UC Merced 76–69 on Tuesday and lost 82–53 at Utah on Friday. UC Riverside, which finished 22–12 last season, is picked fifth in the 11-team Big West. … Carolina is 2–0 against Lehigh, with the other win coming in 1941. … Lehigh lost at Penn State on Friday 74–65. … Walkon Rob Landry scored the first points of his career on a 3-pointer with 41 seconds remaining.
No. 19 UNC 90, Lehigh 68
UNC lineup combinations
| Score | Time | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Segment score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starters | 20:00 | Davis | Wojcik | Ryan | Ingram | Bacot | 8–4 |
| 8–4 | 16:12 | Cadeau | Davis | Washington | 5–8 | ||
| 13–12 | 13:45 | Davis | Wojcik | Ingram | Withers | 1–1 | |
| 14–13 | 13:18 | Bacot | 3–1 | ||||
| 17–14 | 11:49 | Cadeau | Trimble | 0–1 | |||
| 17–15 | 10:56 | Ryan | 4–0 | ||||
| 21–15 | 10:10 | Ingram | 1–0 | ||||
| 22–15 | 9:26 | Davis | 3–0 | ||||
| 25–15 | 8:37 | High | 2–3 | ||||
| 27–18 | 5:48 | Ryan | Ingram | High | Bacot | 8–5 | |
| 35–23 | 3:56 | Cadeau | Withers | 3–3 | |||
| 38–26 | 2:28 | Cadeau | Trimble | Ryan | 5–9 | ||
| 43–35 | Half | Davis | Wojcik | Ingram | Bacot | 5–5 | |
| 48–40 | 16:25 | Cadeau | 1–0 | ||||
| 49–40 | 16:25 | High | 4–8 | ||||
| 53–48 | 13:52 | Ingram | 5–2 | ||||
| 58–50 | 11:55 | Withers | 4–2 | ||||
| 62–52 | 10:35 | Cadeau | Trimble | Washington | 5–2 | ||
| 67–54 | 8:42 | Davis | 2–0 | ||||
| 69–54 | 7:21 | Bacot | 4–2 | ||||
| 73–56 | 6:04 | Ryan | Ingram | 7–3 | |||
| 75–56 | 5:16 | Washington | 2–0 | ||||
| 80–59 | 3:56 | Cadeau | High | 5–3 | |||
| 82–62 | 3:18 | Wojcik | 3–0 | ||||
| 85–62 | 2:33 | Okonkwo | 1–0 | ||||
| 86–62 | 1:23 | Landry | Faris | 4–6 | |||
| 90–68 | Final |
Season statistics
| Date | Month/day | Score | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 27 | Friday | W, 117–53 | vs. St. Augustine’s | Exhibition |
| November | ||||
| 6 | Monday | W, 86–70 | vs. Radford | 1–0 |
| 12 | Sunday | W, 90–68 | vs. Lehigh | 2–0 |
| 17 | Friday | W, 77–52 | vs. UC Riverside | 3–0 |
| Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas | ||||
| 22 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | Northern Iowa | 4–0 |
| 23 | Thursday | L, 83–81, OT | Villanova | 4–1 |
| 24 | Friday | W, 87–72 | Arkansas | 5–1 |
| ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | ||||
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 100–92 | vs. No. 6 Tennessee | 6–1 |
| December | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 78–70 | vs. Florida State | 7–1, 1–0 ACC |
| Jimmy V Classic in New York | ||||
| 5 | Tuesday | L, 87–67 | No. 1 Connecticut | 7–2 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 16 | Saturday | L, 87–83 | No. 12 Kentucky | 7–3 |
| Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
| 20 | Wednesday | W, 81–69 | Oklahoma | 8–3 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 29 | Friday | W, 105–60 | vs. Charleston Southern | 9–3 |
| January | ||||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 70–57 | at Pittsburgh | 10–3, 2–0 ACC |
| 6 | Saturday | W, 65–55 | at Clemson | 11–3, 3–0 ACC |
| 10 | Wednesday | W, 67–54 | at N.C. State | 12–3, 4–0 ACC |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 103–67 | vs. Syracuse | 13–3, 5–0 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 86–70 | vs. Louisville | 14–3, 6–0 ACC |
| 20 | Saturday | W, 76–66 | vs. Boston College | 15–3, 7–0 ACC |
| 22 | Monday | W, 85–64 | vs. Wake Forest | 16–3, 8–0 ACC |
| 27 | Saturday | W, 75–68 | at Florida State | 17–3, 9–0 ACC |
| 30 | Tuesday | L, 74–73 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 9–1 ACC |
| February | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | W, 93–84 | vs. No. 13 Duke | 18–4, 10–1 ACC |
| 6 | Tuesday | L, 80–76 | vs. Clemson | 18–5, 10–2 ACC |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 75–72 | at Miami | 19–5, 11–2 ACC |
| 13 | Tuesday | L, 86–79 | at Syracuse | 19–6, 11–3 ACC |
| 17 | Saturday | W, 96–81 | vs. Virginia Tech | 20–6, 12–3 ACC |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 54–44 | at Virginia | 21–6, 13–3 ACC |
| 26 | Monday | W, 75–71 | vs. Miami | 22–6, 14–3 ACC |
| March | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 79–70 | vs. N.C. State | 23–6, 15–3 ACC |
| 5 | Tuesday | W, 84–51 | vs. Notre Dame | 24–6, 16–3 ACC |
| 9 | Saturday | W, 84–79 | at No. 13 Duke | 25–6, 17–3 ACC |
| ACC tournament Washington | ||||
| 14 | Thursday | W, 92–67 | Quarterfinals: Florida State | 26–6 |
| 15 | Friday | W, 72–65 | Semifinals: Pittsburgh | 27–6 |
| 16 | Saturday | L, 84–76 | Final: N.C. State | 27–7 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 21 | Thursday | W, 90–62 | First round in Charlotte: Wagner | 28–7 |
| 23 | Saturday | W, 85–69 | Second round in Charlotte: Michigan State | 29–7 |
| 28 | Thursday | L, 89–87 | Sweet 16 in Los Angeles: No. 19 Alabama | 29–8 |
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
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