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CHARLOTTE – Nobody is making a pitch for postseason awards right now, and this space generally doesn’t do that even in March.

But, for the sake of discussion, and noting the level Armando Bacot has taken his game of late, his performance in North Carolina’s win Wednesday night was national player of the year stuff.

The relevance of noting it this way is to illustrate the heights of his play. We’re talking an exceptionally high level. We’re talking thoroughly dominating one of the top big men in the nation on both ends of the floor, and leading the Tar Heels to an 80-76 victory over Michigan in the Jumpman Invitational at Spectrum Center.

And we’re talking many accolades stuff.

As for Bacot’s bloody good performance, how about 26 points on 11-for-15 shooting from the field, while limiting 7-foot-1 Wolverine goliath Hunter Dickinson to nine points on 3-for-9 from the field?

Bacot did this while getting his lower lip swabbed to soak excess blood each time he went to the sideline. Dickinson, who plays with elbows out and has a bull-in-the-china-shop way about his game, clobbered Bacot multiple times.

Once was running back up the court, though it was inadvertent. Another came when Bacot made a move in the lane going up for a shot about seven feet from the rim. There were certainly more, though the scrum of the game made those clanks difficult to isolate.

What wasn’t a challenge singling out is how Bacot simply owned Dickinson. This was high-level stuff. It was NPOY stuff. Again, this isn’t pushing him for an award given in four months, it’s simply showing where Bacot’s game was on this night and of late.

“I'm not really thinking about player of the year, but the way he is playing, he is playing with hunger and thirst,” UNC Coach Hubert Davis said. “Not only is he scoring, he is working hard and getting the ball in the right position. He's been really special, not just offensively but on the defensive end as well.”

Bacot has played quicker the last couple of weeks than he did earlier in the season. His rolls and cuts to the basket are cleaner and sharper, and he's been regularly rewarded by teammates. His hands were somewhat an issue in November but not anymore. His footwork has been darn-near pristine.

He is converting around the rim playing through contact at a ridiculous level. And tonight, the 6-foot-11, 235-pound Preseason ACC Player of the year repeatedly used the dribble to work himself into advantageous spots getting Dickinson on his hip. This is the latest wrinkle Bacot has refined.

“Coach and the guards too, they want me to be aggressive, just put pressure on the rim and try and score the ball,” he said. “A lot of the times they were sending someone baseline, so I wasn’t able to do two dribbles and spin, which I would love to do.

“So, I really just had to play with the defense and go middle, go baseline, just do different things like that to get to the spots I want to get to.”

In Carolina’s current four-game win streak, Bacot has scored 21 or more points three times, and in consecutive wins over Big Ten bullies Ohio State at Madison Square Garden and the Wolverines, he has totaled 54 points on 22-for-34 from the field with 20 rebounds.

After not leading the Heels in field goal attempts through their first nine contests, in which they posted just a 5-4 record, Bacot has led them in shots twice over the win streak, and the two games in which he didn’t take to most shots, he was second.

As important as RJ Davis and Love are, this is Bacot’s team. The trio combined for 71 points in MSG, and tonight had 65 points. But Bacot is the top dog.

When Dickinson sent a right knee and then left toe toward Love, who was laying on the ground after being fouled by the Wolverine late in the first half, the first Tar Heel to his aid was Bacot, who ran over and shoved Michigan’s Dug McDaniel.

He earned a technical foul, but it was well worth it. Bacot loves bully ball, but he also won’t let his team get bullied.

Thus, there is absolutely zero secret as to why Carolina appears to have turned the corner and is trending toward being a national title contender. It’s because their national player of the year candidate is playing like one.