BEAKING NEWS:No. 3 North Carolina overcomes No. 7 Duke 93-84 in a comeback victory.

Charlotte, North Carolina This season, Armando Bacot has garnered praise for his willingness to step back offensively and let RJ Davis to be the offensive focal point, as well as for his increased defensive effort and small-time offensive contributions.

That wasn’t quite how coach Hubert Davis saw it, though, as he stated earlier in the week that in order for North Carolina to realize its full potential, Bacot had to reclaim the dominance of the previous several seasons.

“We need that to be able to do what we want to do,” Davis said to ESPN on Thursday. “He must be a badass on the inside. Without Armando putting up large statistics, there is no way we could accomplish everything we wanted.”

With a final line of 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists, Bacot made his point very evident as No. 3 North Carolina easily defeated No. 7 Duke, 93-84.

By scoring, he established the mood.

When he received the ball near the rim, Davis wanted to be more aggressive, but he also wanted to make changes to put Bacot in a better position to score.

“It was like, what’s some different ways I want to be able to get the ball in places where teams aren’t expecting it, they can’t double- and triple-team me,” Bacot explained. “Credit to coach Davis and coach [Brad] Frederick, they drew up some amazing plays that got the big off my body and gave me time to be able to have enough time to make a good move, a strong move at the basket.”