Lehigh Mountain Hawks vs North Carolina Tar Heels Box Score on Nov 12, 2023

Armando Bacot collected 22 points and 20 rebounds and teammate RJ Davis added 22 points to propel No. 19 North Carolina past visiting Lehigh 90-68 on Sunday afternoon in Chapel Hill, N.C.

It marked the third career game reaching the 20-20 level for Bacot, a 6-foot-11 forward in his fifth season. It was his seventh game with at least 20 rebounds. He sat out the final four minutes after North Carolina established a comfortable margin.

Harrison Ingram gave the Tar Heels (2-0) a boost with 14 points.

Keith Higgins Jr. scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half for Lehigh (0-3). Tyler Whitney-Sidney added 10 points.

North Carolina's 15-point lead from the first half dipped to 53-50 in the second half before the Tar Heels rattled off the next nine points in what began a 14-2 burst. Lehigh went almost three minutes without scoring after closing the gap.

Ingram posted five straight North Carolina points as the margin grew to 67-52.

North Carolina shot 46.3 percent from the field despite going 5-for-17 on 3-pointers. Bacot shot 8-for-14 from the field and went 6-for-6 on free throws. Davis was good on 3-of-6 attempts on 3-pointers.

Bacot set the North Carolina career record with 487 offensive rebounds, grabbing six Sunday.

The Tar Heels outscored Lehigh 23-3 on free throws. North Carolina also finished with a 52-31 rebounding edge.

North Carolina had its first double-figure lead at 25-15 when Bacot converted on his second three-point play of the game with more than 8 1/2 minutes left in the first half. Lehigh was amid a stretch of more than seven minutes without a field goal.

Davis drained 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to push the Tar Heels' advantage to 33-18.

Higgins shot 5-for-8 in the first 16 minutes half, while the rest of the Mountain Hawks were a combined 3-for-19.

Lehigh, playing less than two days after losing Friday night at Penn State, shot 36.6 from the field.

--Field Level Media