By R.L. Bynum
When Armando Bacot wasn’t a productive scorer last season, North Carolina struggled to find a way to win.
The No. 14 Tar Heels hoped that might be different this season, but foul trouble kept them from overcoming Villanova on Thursday. The Wildcats pulled out an 83–81 overtime victory at the Imperial Arena in the Bahamas in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis.
In a game with 23 lead changes and 19 ties, a decisive 10–4 Wildcats overtime run sent Carolina (4–1) into the 1 p.m. Friday consolation game against No. 20 Arkansas (4–2), which lost to Memphis 84–79 in the second semifinal. The Razorbacks lost at home 78–72 to UNC Greensboro last Friday.
“I’m really disappointed because I thought we played well enough to win,” UNC coach Hubert Davis told the Tar Heel Sports Network. “I was really proud of the guys and just the way they competed and played in a very physical, NCAA tournament, Final Four type of game.”
Stanford transfer Harrison Ingram took charge with a season-high 20 points — with a career-high four 3-pointers, two assists and two steals — before fouling out with 3:44 left. Notre Dame transfer Cormac Ryan added 18 points, hitting a tying 3-pointer with 34 seconds left in regulation, but appeared to suffer an ankle injury after intentionally missing a free-throw attempt with 2.6 seconds left in overtime.
UNC couldn’t overcome 34 points from Villanova’s Eric Dixon and 32-of-36 shooting from the Wildcats at the free-throw line. Fourteen of the last 19 fouls were against Carolina as it got whistled for a season-high 30 fouls.
“Villanova is really good at posting up all of their players, even their guards,” Coach Davis said. “They do a really good job of being patent and pivoting and pump-faking and selling the foul. I think that our guys, for the most part, did a really good job defensively.”
Bacot — who had eight points and a season-high 18 rebounds — sat out seven first-half minutes with two fouls, then picked up his third foul four minutes into the second half and later got his fourth foul. He didn’t get to the free-throw line for the first time since UNC’s two losses last season to Virginia. He also failed to attempt a free throw in a win over the Cavaliers in the 2022 ACC tournament.
RJ Davis, who had team-highs of 23 points, an 11.2 game score and 41 minutes, was the only starter to avoid foul trouble, including first-time starter Jae’Lyn Withers, who fouled out with 3:10 left.
Freshman point guard Elliot Cadeau became the third UNC player to foul out in the first minute of overtime after dishing out five assists.
“We had opportunities to extend leads and to win the game, and we just didn’t take advantage of it,” Coach Davis said. “So, this is a learning experience.”
Five Ryan points and a Seth Trimble three-point play on a layup on a give-and-go with Bacot ignited a 13–0 run that Ingram capped with a 3-pointer. That gave UNC a 27–18 lead with 5:40 left in the first half after Villanova led by four midway through the half.
Dixon scored six of his 20 first-half points as Villanova responded with 10 consecutive points, and the Wildcats took a 30–29 lead on T.J. Bamba’s layup with 50 seconds left. RJ Davis scored five points in the last 36 seconds, including a corner 3-pointer with two seconds left to give the Tar Heels a 34–32 halftime lead.
Coach Davis made more substitutions in the first half than in many entire games last season.
Villanova took a two-point lead on Jordan Longino’s 3-pointer with 15:44 left, but Carolina then reeled off a 15–4 run, taking a 55–46 lead with 10:52 left on a Cadeau 3-pointer and an RJ Davis layup.
The Wildcats stormed back with a 13–2 run to lead 61–59 on a Dixon jumper with 6:23 left.
RJ Davis missed a 3-point attempt at the regulation buzzer that would have won it.
“Our first option was to get Cormac on a layup, a dive to the basket,” Coach Davis said. “I felt like he was open. And then our second option was to throw it to Paxson [Wojcik] and give it to RJ with a little bit over three seconds left.”
Justin Moore added 16 points for Villanova (5–1).
NOTES — This was the fifth consecutive UNC-Villanova game at a neutral site, with the previous four in Syracuse, Detroit, Kansas City and Houston. … Withers got his first start as a Tar Heel in UNC’s third starting lineup in three games after Wojcik started against UC Riverside and Seth Trimble against Northern Iowa. RJ Davis, Ingram, Ryan and Bacot have started every game. … Carolina is 4–3 on Thanksgiving Day and leads the all-time series with Villanova 11–6. … UNC is 5–3 in Battle 4 Atlantis games. … UNC fell to 65–59 all-time in overtime games. … It was Carolina’s first overtime game of the season and first since beating Ohio State in New York on Dec. 17, 2022. … It was the most free throw attempts by an opponent since Wake Forest was 33 for 42 last season in Winston-Salem. … Dixon’s 34 points were the most by an opponent since Wake Forest’s Tyree Appleby scored 35 on Feb. 7, 2023, in Winston-Salem.
Villanova 83, No. 14 UNC 81, OT
First-half UNC lineup combinations
(A technical glitch deleted the second-half combinations.)
Battle 4 Atlantis
At Imperial Arena
Paradise Islands, Bahamas
Wednesday’s first-round results
No. 14 North Carolina 91, Northern Iowa 69
Villanova 85, Texas Tech 69
Memphis 71, Michigan 67
No. 20 Arkansas 77, Stanford 74, 2 OTs
Thursday’s semifinals
Villanova 83, No. 14 North Carolina 81, OT
Memphis 84, No. 20 Arkansas 79
Thursday’s losers’ bracket results
Texas Tech 72, Northern Iowa 70
Michigan 83, Stanford 78
Friday’s results
Consolation
No. 14 North Carolina 87, No. 20 Arkansas 72
Championship
Villanova 79, Memphis 63
Fifth-place game
Texas Tech 73, Michigan 57
Seventh-place game
Northern Iowa 73, Stanford 51
UNC season statistics
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. No. 11 BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 12 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 97–83 | at SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 14 | Wednesday | 9 p.m. | at Stanford | ACCN |
| 17 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | at California | ACCN |
| 21 | Wednesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Notre Dame | ESPN2 |
| 24 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | at No. 16 Virginia | ESPN |
| 31 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | at Georgia Tech | ACCN |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. Syracuse | ESPN |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | vs. No. 6 Duke | ESPN |
| 10 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at Miami | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 14 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | vs. Pittsburgh | ESPN |
| 17 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at N.C. State | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 21 | Saturday | 1 p.m. | at Syracuse | ABC |
| 23 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 20 Louisville | ESPN |
| 28 | Saturday | 6:30 or 8:30 | vs. Virginia Tech | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 22 Clemson | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | at No. 6 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
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