North Carolina
Bacot: It was a great win going into this week off
Armando Bacot speaks to the media after a 96-81 win over Virginia Tech
Yeah. Well, I mean, their bigs are in foul trouble and I knew going into the second half, I had to put a lot of pressure on the rim and really try to get them out of the game. And I thought I did a good job of that. It looked to me like you had tremendous profits knowing that no matter what they did, you were able to get to the rim. Definitely. I thought today I did a great job of just being fast and not really taking my time, but just going in it, you feel like this game kinda got your groove back. Not just, no, not you. I mean, the whole team definitely. Um, you know, obviously we had a tough little stretch and going into this game, we knew we had to bring out a game especially, which is how they run their sets. And, I mean, it's a tough team with the way they shoot the ball, they experience and thought today we did some great things defensively. We had a little bit of lapses, but it was a great win going into this week off and we get a chance to get back in the lab and kind of address some of the things we need to work on. It was great. Um Coach Levo, he made an emphasis at half time to really pound the ball into me and I make credit to the guards. They got me the ball and I scored, if not, I pass it out to them and they scored, we had three separate guys taking during the game before the Mose Malone played, we kind of pass, you try to pass the t talking about that. I mean, Harry, he was taking all the rebounds early. So on the one when I finger roll it, I was kind of missing on purpose. I know I can get it back. You know, y'all know, I like to pat my stat sometimes. Was there any new actions y'all are running in the second half to get you open or was it just a renewed emphasis on looking for you down low? Yeah, we brought a few plays that we haven't ran since like early on in the season out. And I mean, a lot of it too is just, we were getting stops again in the secondary and I think for me like when we're getting stops and I'm able to run and do things like that, I mean, that's our best offense. So it was great ever since that meeting in Hubert's office before the new game, it seems like your numbers have gone up a great deal. Do you view that meeting as being any type of? Yeah, I mean, coach Davis, he's a great coach and he's always pushing me. Y'all know he's always hard on me. And I mean, coming into this game, I know I want to have a great game. Me RJ, we knew because we didn't like what happened over in Syracuse and I thought, did a great job of responding. But I think the main thing is just us carrying over and keep stacking up good days in practice. And I mean, we go play U va y'all know that's a tough team and it's always, are we going and playing them the way they defend? I mean, personally, I hate playing the Sub A but, you know, if we play like this, we'll have a good chance of winning at Syracuse. There were times that they looked in the second half like you had them, almost had them on the range, but you were unable to sort of put them away. You think some kind of come through but not to them. Definitely. But I mean, when you're playing at this level, two teams, it's a game of runs really. And as long as we just held on enough, that's all that really matters. It's just perfect time. I need it. I mean, it's been a tough few stretch and it's like when you're in a position we in, at the top of the AC C, everywhere you go I mean, it's electric, it's crazy. I mean, but it's a lot of fun and some of the perks going to a school like this at UN C but I mean, we get everybody's shot. It's like every game is like, I feel like national championship. I'm not sure we're off tomorrow. Yeah, we're off tomorrow. But honestly, I don't even know this, what was the lead up to? Like, we'll probably still be practicing over there. What was the lead up to this one? Like after Syracuse, we watched film and we saw some of the things, uh, me and Harry didn't do a great job of set Springs versus Syracuse and we thought we turned the ball over too much and defensively, our ball coverage wasn't as good as how we wanted it to be. And that's some of the things we really needed to address today. And I mean, I think it was no better team to do it against versus a Virginia Tech because I think, uh that coach has some of the best offense and the AC C just with all the pin downs and misdirection and things like that. So this is a huge game for us, especially our defense. We just, the feeling is going into the final few weeks of the season and not being worried about being on the buff. I mean, it's a great film. It's a feeling I haven't really been able to have since I've been here. So I mean, I'm happy and this is the best I felt since I've been here. Did you see the mock bracket that came up? CBS? Are they released at the top 16? Top two? Yeah, I mean, that's crazy to think, but, I mean, we're trying to go for it all. Obviously we wanna have a chance to play in Charlotte on going back to your game.