North Carolina Tar Heels forward Armando Bacot left the court in Tuesday evening’s game against Virginia with a left ankle injury. The team’s leading scorer (17.6 points per game) and rebounder (10.6 per game) injured his ankle less than two minutes after the game tipped off and did not return to the court.
His X-rays came back negative for a fracture, but Bacot’s timeline for return is still unsure. The Tar Heels will need to wait for the pain and swelling to subside before putting him back on the court and risking further injury.
BREAKING: North Carolina star Armando Bacot’s X-rays on his ankle came back negative, source told @Stadium. Huge news for the Tar Heels. Still uncertain how long Bacot will be out, need to wait for swelling to subside. Was averaging 21.9 and 11.2 over past 7 games.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) January 11, 2023
The Tar Heels lost the game against Virginia, 65-58, to mark the team’s third loss in the ACC. Bacot was an enormous factor in UNC’s championship run last season, when they made it to the championship game as an eight seed and fell to No. 3 Kansas. Bacot was the team’s top scorer in four of the five March Madness games, including the national championship.