UNC Basketball: Biggest takeaways from 2019 Battle 4 Atlantis

Bacot a beast inside the paint

North Carolina Tar Heels freshman Armando Bacot has had a 22-point game this season but it came against Elon. His dominant 23-point, 12-rebound double-double against an athletic Oregon frontline qualifies as a breakout effort for the big man out of IMG Academy.

Throughout this game, it was pretty much impossible for the Ducks to keep the 6-foot-10, 232 lb. Bacot off the glass, especially the offensive glass. Bacot had seven offensive rebounds, which contributed heavily to his career-high 23-point effort.

Second chance points aside, Bacot dominated with an incredibly efficient effort from the floor. He shot 7-for-9 from the field and 9-for-10 from the free throw line. The 90% effort from the free throw line was incredibly impressive considering that Bacot is a 41.2% free throw shooter on the season.

A big problem for the North Carolina Tar Hels on the season has been their inability to score when Cole Anthony’s shot is off or when he is off the floor. Bacot will be a lot more than the Tar Heels fourth-leading scorer if he can use Friday’s effort—especially the excellent free throw shooting—to build consistent performances moving forward.

While Bacot’s career-high in points will rightfully take most of the attention, his career-high 6 blocks were monumental in the win. His intimidating presence in the paint was a key part of Oregon shooting a terrible 35.7% from the field.

Oregon’s key frontcourt players: Francis Okoro (1-for-4), Shakur Juiston (0-for-5), and C.J. Walker (1-for-4) all struggled mightily in this game, a direct result of the play of both Garrison Brooks (3 blocks) and Bacot. With this aggressive of an effort from both of their post players on a game-to-game basis, the Tar Heels will be damn tough to stop.