DURHAM, N.C. — While North Carolina’s claiming of the ACC regular-season title became a meaningful moment for all of the Tar Heels to soak in and celebrate, there was no mistaking their special sense of satisfaction in delivering the conference crown to veteran mainstays Armando Bacot and RJ Davis for the first time.
That collective touch of appreciation was part of the fulfillment Saturday night after UNC defeated Duke 84-79 at Cameron Indoor Stadium, underscored by coach Hubert Davis’ affecting close to his postgame comments, with a telling strain in his voice and emphasis in his words.
“They’ve been really emotional, even before today, about having a chance to be able to do this,” he said of Bacot and RJ Davis. “This is something that they haven’t done in the years that they’ve been here. And as accomplished as they have been, individually and also as a team getting to the (NCAA) championship game, this is something that they haven’t attained. Or even been in position to do it. And so for them to do it this way at this time, I mean, you should see them in the locker room. They’re kids, but they’re like really kids kids. They’re just jumping around all over the place and dancing. You can see the joy that they have for what they have accomplished.
“That’s why they came back. They came back for this. They came back to experience this. Yes, they wanted to come back individually. But they came back for this. And for them to go, ‘wow, we came back for this and we were able to do this,’ it’s just really, really cool. We always say there’s more to be said and more to be done. But they’ve said a lot already this year.”
The fifth-year senior big man Bacot and the senior guard Davis had played in a combined 295 college games for the Tar Heels when Saturday night’s victory was complete, securing Carolina’s first outright ACC regular-season title in seven years (since 2016-17).
Their statistical production against the rival Blue Devils took a backseat to Cormac Ryan’s flame-throwing performance of six 3-pointers and career-high 31 points, and Harrison Ingram’s sturdy 14 points and 10 rebounds. Bacot and Davis contributed nine points apiece and went 8-for-23 from the field altogether, creating a historical footnote.
The date read Nov. 9, 2021, the last time UNC won a game with neither Bacot nor Davis scoring in double digits. That was the night Hubert Davis made his head-coaching debut, as the Tar Heels downed Loyola Maryland 83-67 at the Smith Center.
“It was a full team effort,” Bacot said Saturday night, standing near the steps that lead down to the visiting locker room at Duke. “I mean, me and RJ might’ve had nine apiece, when has that ever happened? But we’ve got such a great team, it could be anybody’s night. Cormac stepped up and had a humongous game for us. He was the best player on the floor for both teams. And it’s just huge.”
UNC won the ACC outright for the 22nd time. The Tar Heels have shared the league title 11 times, most recently in 2018-19, for a total of 33 regular-season conference championships. RJ Davis, the ACC scoring champ this season (21.1 points per game), who’s a lock to earn conference Player of the Year distinction, improved his career record to 3-1 in road games at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
“I’m extremely happy,” he said. “I haven’t won it since I’ve been here, and we haven’t won it since 2019. I’m just super proud of this group, the way we just battled. We were able to come out with a win like this and win the ACC regular season. That’s special for this group. That was one of our goals going into the year. We’ve still got some more goals to knock down, but we’re almost there.”
The transfer guard Ryan, who’s in his sixth college season, called Bacot and Davis “legendary Tar Heels” who have had “tremendously storied careers,” as he considered the significant sharpshooting role he played in Carolina’s defeat of Duke.
“And they’re not new to winning in here, either,” Ryan said. “They’re professionals. They’re amazing teammates. They’re amazing players.”
The transfer forward Ingram added: “It means the world to me. When I was in the portal, they were recruiting me, too. They helped the coaches. Reaching out to me, saying the picture that they had and how they just wanted to win, and they didn’t really care about points or stats or whatever you want to call it. They just wanted to win.”
