UNC men’s basketball preparing to use ‘unconventional lineups’ at Louisville
North Carolina coach Hubert Davis indicated that leading scorer and rebounder Armando Bacot was closer to returning than Pete Nance, but both starting forwards were “very questionable” for Saturday’s game against Louisville.
Bacot turned his left ankle 78 seconds into Tuesday’s loss at Virginia and did not play the rest of the game. Davis said he didn’t practice Thursday, but he was “was surprised the way that he was moving. He’s improving a lot.”
Nance initially hurt his back at Pitt, played two minutes against Wake Forest and has not appeared in a game since then. Nance’s availability is much tougher to predict because of the unpredictable nature of back injuries. Davis said he could be ready, “tomorrow, it could be today, it could be next week.”
“It’s all about flexibility, it’s all about strength and it’s improving every day,” Davis said. “He could be ready tomorrow as well. But if I would guess I would say Armando is further along. And Armando is still very questionable at best to play against Louisville.”
Davis did not indicate who would take their places in the starting lineup if they are unable to play against the Cardinals. Freshman guard Seth Trimble has started the previous two games in place of Nance to give Carolina a three-guard look.
Both senior forward Justin McKoy and freshman forward Jalen Washington took turns rotating in the frontcourt when Bacot was injured.
“Anybody who’s healthy and has a uniform on, they’ll be ready to play,” Davis said. “There’ll be some unconventional lineups out there on the floor.”
That may be true, but Davis made it clear he had the same expectation of performance regardless of who is on the court.
Washington logged more minutes against UVA (27) than his combined total (20) in the six previous games he appeared in this season. He missed the first nine games while continuing to rehabilitate a knee injury he suffered in high school.
Washington scored 12 of his season-high 13 points in the first half against the Cavaliers. His performance raised a lot of eyebrows on his potential — not just as a fill-in for Bacot, but a player who can really help the Heels when the stakes get higher later in the season.
“It’s been a while since he’s been out there on the floor,” Davis said. “And for him to get that opportunity and for an extended period of time and to be able to have success, I think there was joy. I think there was confidence. I think there was relief.”
Carolina is feeling a bit more consternation facing the ACC’s last-place team than it would at full strength. But Davis said they can’t just sub in a player to replace Bacot.
He’s an elite rebounder who ranked 16th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage and ranks 19th in his ability to draw fouls, according to Ken Pomeroy. Only twice has an opponent attempted more free throws than Carolina, which is a testament to Bacot’s ability to draw fouls.
UVA attempted seven more free throws (19 to 12) than UNC did and Alabama attempted one more (21 to 20) free throw than UNC in their quadruple thriller.
“I don’t think it’s a situation of how can we plug somebody in or plug people in and replace exactly what Armando does,” Davis said. “I just think everybody has to step up and do what they can do out there on the floor. When we played against Virginia — and I told them, and I told (the media) — the guys that played at Virginia after Armando got hurt is good enough to win games. Plain and simple, period, the end.”
Tipoff time + TV channel for Saturday’s game
The game will start at 2 p.m. on Saturday and will air on ESPN.
How to stream UNC vs Louisville game online
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Game day details: UNC vs Louisville
Teams: UNC Tar Heels vs. Louisville Cardinals
Where: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Ky.
Date: Saturday, Jan. 14
Time: 2 p.m.
TV: ESPN
Series history: The Tar Heels lead the overall series 18-7. Carolina won both meetings last season, including a 90-83 overtime win in Louisville on Feb. 1, 2022.