Armando Bacot racked up 28 points and 18 rebounds as visiting North Carolina cruised past rival North Carolina State for an 84-74 Atlantic Coast Conference victory Saturday afternoon at Raleigh, N.C.
Caleb Love, Brady Manek and Puff Johnson all had 16 points for North Carolina (21-8, 13-5 ACC), which stayed within reach of the top spot in the conference standings.
The Tar Heels, who built a 19-point lead less than eight minutes into the game, shot 51.8 percent from the field, boosted by Bacot’s 11-of-13 shootng. Johnson reached double figures for the first time in his career.
Terquavion Smith poured in 20 points for last-place NC State (11-18, 4-14), which scored the last nine points of the game. Cam Hayes tallied 16 points off the bench, while Jericole Hellems and Dereon Seabron each had 11 points.
North Carolina has won eight of its last nine visits to NC State.
The Tar Heels won despite committing 16 turnovers compared to NC State’s seven. North Carolina held a 46-25 rebounding edge.
The Wolfpack was 9 of 27 from 3-point range, with Hayes draining four of those on five attempts and Smith adding three more but needing 11 attempts.
The Wolfpack closed within 46-35 early in the second half before an 11-0 run by North Carolina across the next three minutes. The margin reached 25 points at 73-48 with 7:19 remaining before NC State rallied.
North Carolina broke out to a 26-8 lead and then held a 46-29 halftime edge as the Tar Heels clinched a winning record in ACC road games for the 43rd time in 69 seasons.
Manek had 14 points at the break and Bacot had 11 as North Carolina shot nearly 60 percent (15 of 25) in the opening half.
North Carolina blew out the Wolfpack 100-80 on Jan. 29. With the sweep, it marks the fifth team that the Tar Heels have defeated a team twice this season, with Georgia Tech, Boston College, Virginia Tech and Louisville the other victims.
The Tar Heels never trailed in either game against NC State this season.
–Field Level Media
