Like most North Carolina greats, some of the most memorable games for Armando Bacot are wins against Duke. Bacot helped the Tar Heels take down their bitter rival twice in 2021-22, including during the final home game for legendary Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski.
The 6-foot-11 big man recalled the mindset going into that matchup on a recent appearance on the Run You Race podcast. The Tar Heels entered riding a four-game winning streak but were still on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
However, coach Hubert Davis found a way to motivate his squad heading into the contest, which was set to be an electric atmosphere with many Duke greats in attendance.
“We don’t know if we’re going to the tournament at this point,” Bacot said. “We go in there and it’s Coach K’s last game and I remember we went into that game not caring. Because what do we got to lose? We’re not supposed to win anyway and it’s Coach K’s last home game. Everybody is there like JJ Redick and all of them.
“Coach Davis showed us a video talking about the Lakers and Celtics rivalry. One of those motivational things where we watched a whole documentary about one time the Lakers played the Celtics and they weren’t supposed to win. So we went into that game motivated as hell like, ‘we’re gonna shock the world.'”
UNC started the game off on a 9-2 run that got its confidence going. Although the No. 4 Blue Devils came back to make it a 41-39 Tar Heels lead by halftime, they ended up losing 94-81 as the special day for Coach K was spoiled.
Bacot finished the contest with 23 points and seven rebounds on 10-for-11 shooting. The game proved the start of a big run to close the season, and he remember feeling the excitement of the moment upon returning to Chapel Hill.
“We go in there and we’re just beating them and we can’t believe it,” he said. “We’re on the sideline, me and Caleb, like, ‘is this real?’ …After that, everything just changed for us. Our confidence was at another level. That was the first time that me, Caleb, anybody really got to experience North Carolina. We go back and 10,000 fans are outside the Dean Dome waiting on us and congratulating us.”
North Carolina entered the NCAA Tournament as an eight seed that season and would go on to take down No. 1 Baylor in the second round. The Tar Heels advanced all the way to the Final Four, where they again handed Coach K and Duke a loss to reach the title game.
Armando Bacot just wrapped up his final season at UNC, but he’ll always hold a special place in program history thanks to both of those victories vs. Duke and the Marc Madness run.
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