North Carolina Basketball: ACC Championship Features Triangle Rivalry
The North Carolina Tar Heels have reached the ACC championship for the first time since 2018 after defeating Florida State and the Pittsburgh Panthers. Coach Davis and his team now focus on a local rival, the NC State Wolfpack. Although Carolina has already defeated the Coach Keatts-led team twice, they are performing at a much higher level, especially with an NCAA Tournament bid at stake.
RJ Davis, named ACC Player of the Year, led UNC’s scoring from the perimeter, while Armando Bacot dominated in the paint. Davis contributed 25 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists, shooting 8-18 from the field, 3-10 from three-point range, and making 6-8 free throws. He scored 19 points in the second half, shooting 50% from the field and sinking three more three-pointers.
Armando Bacot, a member of the All-Defensive team, made a significant impact by putting Federiko Federiko and Guillermo Diaz Graham in foul trouble in the first half. At halftime, Bacot led the team with 7 points, 2 rebounds, and an assist. In the second half, he continued to dominate in the paint, both offensively and defensively, even deflecting a pass off the inbound and turning it into a transition dunk, giving the Heels a lead of 45-42 early in the second half.
NC State, their Triangle rival, won in dramatic fashion with a game-tying buzzer-beater three-pointer by Michael O’Connell that sent the game into overtime. D.J Burns led the scoring with 19 points and 5 rebounds, using his size advantage to finish around the rim. Michael O’Connell, the senior transfer from Stanford, contributed 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists, shooting 5-9 overall and 2-5 from three-point range.
