Armando Bacot poured in 25 points to go with 13 rebounds and No. 19 North Carolina had enough power to fend off visiting Radford for an 86-70 season-opening victory Monday night at Chapel Hill, N.C.
Newcomers Cormac Ryan and Harrison Ingram provided 13 and 12 points, respectively, and RJ Davis also notched 13 points for North Carolina.
The Tar Heels won their season opener for the 19th consecutive season, aided by shooting 52.5 percent from the field. Ryan made three of the team’s seven 3-point baskets.
DaQuan Smith and Kenyon Giles tallied 18 points apiece for Radford, which was bidding for its second-ever win over a ranked team.
Bryan Antoine added 13 points.
North Carolina held the Highlanders to 29 second-half points.
Bacot had the most points in an opener in his five seasons.
Ingram (from Stanford) and Ryan (Notre Dame) joined Brown transfer Paxson Wojcik in the Tar Heels starting lineup. North Carolina is trying to shed the disappointment of the 2022-23 season that began with a No. 1 national ranking and ended without a spot in the postseason.
A 7-0 run in the second half helped the Tar Heels creep to a 63-55 lead. Bacot had four straight points as the lead expanded to 67-58.
Ryan’s corner 3-pointer stretched the lead to 74-61, resulting in a Radford timeout with just over seven minutes remaining.
Radford shot 50 percent in the first half, but its hot shooting stretches went away by the second half and it ended up at 42.4 percent from the field. Smith made three of the team’s five 3s.
North Carolina scored the last eight points of the first half for a 46-41 lead. Bacot had 13 points by the break.
The Tar Heels scored 17 points in the first 4:02 of the game, posting at least one point on their first seven possessions. The point production stalled, and Radford pulled ahead 29-26 with less than eight minutes left in the half.
–Field Level Media