Bacot, North Carolina roll Louisville 80-59

Updated Jan. 14, 2023 5:06 p.m. ET

Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Playing on an injured ankle, Armando Bacot recorded a double-double and reserve Dmarco Dunn scored 14 points and North Carolina beat Louisville 80-59 on Saturday.

Bacot scored 14 points and had 16 rebounds and R.J. Davis and Puff Johnson scored 12 apiece for the Tar Heels (12-6, 4-3 ACC). The Tar Heels' bench contributed 26 points to the win effort.

El Ellis scored 22 points for Louisville (2-16, 0-7) which hasn't won since Dec. 17.

Louisville played with aggression and built a 15-7 lead with 13:28 left before halftime. But North Carolina proceeded to outscore the Cardinals 30-11 and went to the break up 37-26. Other than Ellis, only Jae’Lyn Withers scored more than two points before halftime for Louisville.

Bacot turned his left ankle a little more than a minute into Tuesday’s loss at Virginia and did not play the rest of the game. North Carolina again played without Pitt Nance, who hurt is back at Pitt on Dec. 30. He played two minutes against Wake Forest Jan. 4 and has missed the last three games.

The Tar Heels moved their all-time record to 19-7 against Louisville.

North Carolina hosts Boston College Tuesday. Louisville faces Pitt Wednesday.

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