Love, Bacot lead balanced North Carolina past Virginia Tech

AP
Jan 24, 2022

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) Caleb Love scored 22 points, Armando Bacot had 14 points and 19 rebounds and all five starters scored in double figures as North Carolina defeated Virginia Tech 78-68 on Monday night.

The Tar Heels bounced back at home after two blowout losses on the road. They lost to Miami 85-57 and to Wake Forest 98-76 last week.

Brady Manek added 15 points and eight rebounds, R. J Davis scored 15 points and Leaky Black had 10 points as the Tar Heels' starters scored all but two of their points.

Keve Aluma made a pair of free throws to draw Virginia Tech within 57-54 with 5:36 remaining in the second half but Manek had a dunk and a 3-pointer and Love made 3 of 4 free throws as the Tar Heels extended their lead to 11 points.

Love's jumper with 1:43 remaining was the Tar Heels' last field goal and they finished off the win with 7 free throws in 8 attempts down the stretch.

Aluma had 19 points, six rebounds and three assists for Virginia Tech. Justyn Mutts had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Hunter Cattoor scored 13 points and Nahiem Alleyne had 10 points. Virginia Tech led in bench points 6-2.

The Tar Heels were able to increase their 4-point halftime lead despite shooting 33% in the second half. Six of their 10 second-half field goals were 3-pointers.

The Tar Heels shot 36.5% for the game, making 10 of 25 3-pointers. They had a 15-point advantage at the free-throw line, making 22 of 26 compared to Virginia Tech's 7 of 11. The Hokies shot 47% for the game and made 7 of 18 3-pointers.

North Carolina played without Dawson Garcia who had returned home to Minnesota due to an illness in his family. He averages 9.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.

The game was rescheduled from Dec. 29, forcing both teams to play three games in five days. Miami visits Virginia Tech on Wednesday and North Carolina will be at home against Boston College.

More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

1st Half
VT
Hokies
33
UNC
Tar Heels
37

Time		Play	Score
20:00		(Justyn Mutts gains possession)
19:46	+2	Justyn Mutts makes two point layup	2-0
19:28		Brady Manek misses three point jump shot
19:26		Nahiem Alleyne defensive rebound
19:08		Hunter Cattoor turnover (lost ball) (Rechon 'Leaky' Black steals)
19:00	+2	Armando Bacot makes two point layup (Brady Manek assists)	2-2
18:40		Justyn Mutts misses three point jump shot
18:38		Rechon 'Leaky' Black defensive rebound
18:29		RJ Davis misses three point jump shot
18:27		Armando Bacot offensive rebound
18:22	+2	Armando Bacot makes two point layup	2-4
17:56		Justyn Mutts misses two point layup
17:54		Armando Bacot defensive rebound
17:42	+2	Armando Bacot makes two point jump shot (Caleb Love assists)	2-6
17:13		Keve Aluma misses two point jump shot
17:11		Brady Manek defensive rebound
16:58		Caleb Love misses two point jump shot
16:56		Keve Aluma defensive rebound
16:37	+2	Keve Aluma makes two point jump shot	4-6
16:24	+2	Armando Bacot makes two point jump shot (RJ Davis assists)	4-8
16:08		Hunter Cattoor misses three point jump shot
16:06		Brady Manek defensive rebound
15:49		Justyn Mutts personal foul (RJ Davis draws the foul)
15:49		TV timeout
15:49	+1	RJ Davis makes regular free throw 1 of 2	4-9
15:49	+1	RJ Davis makes regular free throw 2 of 2	4-10
15:34		Justyn Mutts turnover (lost ball) (Rechon 'Leaky' Black steals)
15:23	+2	Armando Bacot makes two point layup (Brady Manek assists)	4-12
15:05	+2	Keve Aluma makes two point dunk	6-12
14:45	+2	Armando Bacot makes two point tip shot (Rechon 'Leaky' Black assists)	6-14
14:27		RJ Davis personal foul (Nahiem Alleyne draws the foul)
14:18		Rechon 'Leaky' Black blocks Hunter Cattoor's two point layup
14:16		Armando Bacot defensive rebound
13:55		Caleb Love misses three point jump shot
13:53		Nahiem Alleyne defensive rebound
13:43		Keve Aluma misses three point jump shot
13:41		RJ Davis defensive rebound
13:01	+3	Rechon 'Leaky' Black makes three point jump shot (Armando Bacot assists)	6-17
12:39	+2	Storm Murphy makes two point layup	8-17
12:33		Rechon 'Leaky' Black misses three point jump shot
12:31		Hunter Cattoor defensive rebound
12:23		Keve Aluma misses two point hook shot
12:21		Brady Manek defensive rebound
12:11		Armando Bacot misses two point jump shot
12:09		Hunter Cattoor defensive rebound
11:57	+3	Hunter Cattoor makes three point jump shot (Keve Aluma assists)	11-17
11:39		Hunter Cattoor personal foul (Brady Manek draws the foul)
11:39		TV timeout
11:25		Armando Bacot misses two point jump shot
11:23		Rechon 'Leaky' Black offensive rebound
11:15		RJ Davis misses three point jump shot
11:13		Keve Aluma defensive rebound
10:55	+3	Keve Aluma makes three point jump shot (Justyn Mutts assists)	14-17
10:38		Justin McKoy misses three point jump shot
10:36		Hunter Cattoor defensive rebound
10:21		Storm Murphy misses three point jump shot
10:19		Armando Bacot defensive rebound
10:03	+2	Rechon 'Leaky' Black makes two point jump shot	14-19
9:50		Rechon 'Leaky' Black personal foul (Hokies draws the foul)
9:43	+2	Nahiem Alleyne makes two point jump shot	16-19
9:30		Storm Murphy personal foul (Armando Bacot draws the foul)
9:13		Rechon 'Leaky' Black misses three point jump shot
9:11		Justin McKoy offensive rebound
9:03		Justin McKoy misses two point layup
9:01		Tar Heels offensive rebound
8:56		Jalen Haynes personal foul (Armando Bacot draws the foul)
8:39		RJ Davis misses two point jump shot
8:37		Armando Bacot offensive rebound
8:31		Armando Bacot misses two point layup
8:29		Armando Bacot offensive rebound
8:22		Armando Bacot misses two point layup
8:20		Sean Pedulla defensive rebound
8:13	+3	Nahiem Alleyne makes three point jump shot (Keve Aluma assists)	19-19
8:06		Darius Maddox personal foul (Tar Heels draws the foul)
8:04		Kerwin Walton misses two point jump shot
8:02		Darius Maddox defensive rebound
7:50		Nahiem Alleyne turnover (lost ball) (RJ Davis steals)
7:41		RJ Davis misses two point layup
7:39		Nahiem Alleyne defensive rebound
7:32	+2	Keve Aluma makes two point layup (Sean Pedulla assists)	21-19
7:16	+3	Brady Manek makes three point jump shot (RJ Davis assists)	21-22
7:03		Sean Pedulla misses three point jump shot
7:01		Hokies offensive rebound
7:01		TV timeout
6:54		Brady Manek blocks Keve Aluma's two point layup
6:52		Brady Manek defensive rebound
6:40	+2	Caleb Love makes two point layup	21-24
6:21	+2	Keve Aluma makes two point jump shot	23-24
6:02		Brady Manek turnover (lost ball) (Justyn Mutts steals)
5:52	+3	Nahiem Alleyne makes three point jump shot (Sean Pedulla assists)	26-24
5:36		Justin McKoy misses two point layup
5:34		Justyn Mutts defensive rebound
5:19		Puff Johnson shooting foul (Justyn Mutts draws the foul)
5:19		Justyn Mutts misses regular free throw 1 of 2
5:19		Justyn Mutts misses regular free throw 2 of 2
5:19		Armando Bacot defensive rebound
5:09		Brady Manek misses three point jump shot
5:07		Hunter Cattoor defensive rebound
4:56	+2	Keve Aluma makes two point layup (Storm Murphy assists)	28-24
4:39		Justyn Mutts personal foul (Brady Manek draws the foul)
4:26		Keve Aluma blocks Armando Bacot's two point jump shot
4:24		Hunter Cattoor defensive rebound
4:01		Keve Aluma misses two point layup
3:59		RJ Davis defensive rebound
3:44	+3	Caleb Love makes three point jump shot (Rechon 'Leaky' Black assists)	28-27
3:19		Brady Manek shooting foul (Hunter Cattoor draws the foul)
3:19		TV timeout
3:19	+1	Hunter Cattoor makes regular free throw 1 of 2	29-27
3:19	+1	Hunter Cattoor makes regular free throw 2 of 2	30-27
2:52		Caleb Love misses three point jump shot
2:50		Armando Bacot offensive rebound
2:43		Armando Bacot turnover (lost ball) (Hunter Cattoor steals)
2:40		Hunter Cattoor misses two point jump shot
2:38		Armando Bacot defensive rebound
2:39		Nahiem Alleyne personal foul (Rechon 'Leaky' Black draws the foul)
2:37	+1	Rechon 'Leaky' Black makes regular free throw 1 of 2	30-28
2:37	+1	Rechon 'Leaky' Black makes regular free throw 2 of 2	30-29
2:11		David N'Guessan technical foul
2:11		David N'Guessan turnover
2:11	+1	Caleb Love makes regular free throw 1 of 1	30-30
1:46	+3	Caleb Love makes three point jump shot	30-33
1:27		Keve Aluma misses two point hook shot
1:25		Armando Bacot defensive rebound
1:16		Armando Bacot offensive foul (David N'Guessan draws the foul)
1:16		Armando Bacot turnover
0:48		RJ Davis blocks Nahiem Alleyne's two point layup
0:46		RJ Davis defensive rebound
0:38	+2	RJ Davis makes two point pullup jump shot	30-35
0:08		Rechon 'Leaky' Black personal foul (Keve Aluma draws the foul)
0:08		Rechon 'Leaky' Black personal foul (Keve Aluma draws the foul)
0:07	+3	Hunter Cattoor makes three point jump shot (Storm Murphy assists)	33-35
0:01		Nahiem Alleyne personal foul (RJ Davis draws the foul)
0:01	+1	RJ Davis makes regular free throw 1 of 2	33-36
0:01	+1	RJ Davis makes regular free throw 2 of 2	33-37

Love, Bacot lead balanced North Carolina past Virginia Tech

1st Half VTHokies33UNCTar Heels37

1st Half
VT
Hokies
33
UNC
Tar Heels
37