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NEW ORLEANS – Armando Bacot managed to drive up the tension meter among the North Carolina fans inside the Superdome on Monday night as they waited for him to run onto the court and partake in warmups.
Usually one of the first Tar Heels shooting around before a 10-minute stretching session, the 6-foot-10 junior and his banged-up ankle didn’t make it onto the court until a brief appearance before returning to the locker room.
A UNC spokesman told THI that Bacot didn’t want to test and loosen the ankle in front of so many fans, so he did it in private, and returned to the court to finish warmups not long after. He then proceeded to play 38 minutes in the Tar Heels’ 72-69 loss to Kansas in the national championship game.
He made a valiant effort, limping, occasionally favoring, and then with 38 seconds remaining, succumbing to the battered ankle. With Carolina trailing, 70-69, Bacot was trying to make a move toward the basket, but appeared to slip, plummeting to the floor. He hobbled back down the court before the officials blew the whistle stopping play. His night was over.
“I thought I made a good move,” said Bacot, who was helped onto and off the dais for the postgame press conference. “I thought I really got the angle I wanted. I thought it would have been an easy basket. And then I just rolled my ankle as I was going up…
“It was a four-on-five and I was trying to get back to do whatever I could, even if I was just contesting a shot or do whatever. But I really struggled. I really couldn't put any weight down on my right leg. And I don't know, right then and there I probably knew I was done at that point.”
Bacot’s ankle had emerged as one of the top storylines since he turned it late in Carolina’s win over Duke on Saturday night in the national semifinals.
Carolina Coach Hubert Davis said Sunday the ankle was “sore” but he also expected Bacot to practice later that day and play Monday night. The focus for Bacot, however, was to do whatever he could to mend the ankle enough so he could go as close to maximum as possible.
“The last 24 hours, probably 15 of them it was me just trying to get my ankle better,” Bacot said. “And (head trainer) Doug Halverson and (strength and conditioning coach Jonas Saratian), they did a great job preparing me for this moment.
“Right before the game, I really couldn't even jump. And then that's why I kind of went back. We just kept trying to take a crack at it. They didn't give up. Luckily, I was able to play 38 minutes.”
Bacot finished with 15 points and 15 more rebounds, making this his 31st double-double of the season, which is an NCAA record, tying him with Navy's David Robinson (1985 and 1986) as the only players with 31 . The men who did it 30 times: Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin (2009), Wichita State’s Xavier McDaniel (1985), West Virginia’s Jerry West (1960), and LaSalle’s Tom Gola (1954 and 1955). That is a star-studded cast.
The Richmond, VA, native also became the first player in NCAA history to record a double-double in all six NCAA Tournament games.
But Bacot was 3-for-13 from the floor, and it was apparent the sharpness of his drop steps and spin moves in the lane, plus some defensive rotations, weren’t what they were when the ankle was healthy.
