Armando Bacot notched a career-high 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting as No. 18 North Carolina withstood College of Charleston’s upset bid, getting past the Cougars 94-83 Tuesday night in Charleston, S.C.
North Carolina (3-0) trailed the entire first half — by as many as 11 about midway through the half — before starting strong in the second, taking the lead just over three minutes in and playing out front for the victory.
Bacot also produced a game-high in rebounds (12) and blocked shots (six). He added three assists.
Caleb Love tallied 22 points, seven rebounds and six assists, Brady Manek posted 17 points, and Kerwin Walton added 14.
The Tar Heels shot 54.2 percent from the field compared with Charleston’s 36.4 percent.
The Cougars (3-1) were led by Reyne Smith’s 19 points, including five 3-pointers, and Ben Burnham had 17.
Fah’Mir Ali scored 13 points with four assists and four steals. Brenden Tucker had 10 points and four rebounds.
It was Charleston’s first win over North Carolina since Jan. 4, 2010, an 82-79 victory in overtime when the Tar Heels were ranked ninth in the country.
Just like nearly 11 years ago, the Cougars electrified the enthusiastic home crowd from the start — an alley-oop dunk from Dimitrius Underwood to Babacar Faye on the game’s first play.
Smith made two 3-pointers, and Burnham and Ali each hit from long range as Charleston led 16-10 just 4:14 in and stretched it to 26-15 on Burnham’s layup with 11 minutes left in the half.
But North Carolina battled back with eight straight points, five from Manek, and held Charleston scoreless for 4:26 to get back in it, 26-23, and trailed just 42-36 at the break.
Led by Burnham’s 10 points, the Cougars helped themselves by making 7-of-16 treys in the half.
UNC went on a 14-7 run in the first 4:08 of the second half to grab a 50-49 lead — eventually growing the lead to eight multiple times, including with 10 minutes to play.
Walton’s two treys and Love’s layup soon moved UNC’s lead to 84-74 with 4:06 left.
–Field Level Media
