With 52 seconds to play in Charlottesville on Saturday and the No. 10 Tar Heels (21-6, 13-3 ACC) holding a 50-44 lead over unranked Virginia (20-8, 11-6 ACC), Armando Bacot’s offensive rebound translated to two RJ Davis free throws that all but sealed the eventual 54-44 win.
Bacot’s game-high 13 rebounds, including five on the offensive end, fueled the Tar Heels’ 43-39 advantage on the glass. UNC has now outrebounded 16 straight opponents.
The week off to prepare helped keep that streak intact, not to mention snapping the program’s eight-game losing streak in the series when playing in John Paul Jones Arena (the Tar Heels’ longest on any opponent’s home court in history).
Afterward, third-year UNC basketball head coach Hubert Davis explained how his players’ preparation paid off, particularly with respect to the relentless improvements they’ve made in the rebounding department despite looking impressive there for months:
“Going into the game, we identified what we needed to do to have some success on the offensive end. One was take care of the basketball, and I thought we did a better job of that in the second half. Get to the free throw line; we needed to do that, and I thought we did a better job with that in the second half, obviously.
“Then, second-chance opportunities, we felt like we could get some offensive rebounds. But we needed to be persistent in terms of going to the offensive glass, and we were better at that in the second half as well.
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