NEW ORLEANS — The most enduring moment of North Carolina’s 72-69 national championship game defeat against Kansas, the moment that epitomized the kind of perseverance and never-quit spirit that led the Tar Heels to the season’s final Monday night, came with less than a minute remaining and UNC still hoping, still fighting.
It was then when Armando Bacot, the Tar Heels’ junior forward, attempted to make a move toward the basket. Already, Bacot had limped his way through 38 minutes of pain to help give UNC a chance. Already, he’d mostly ignored, as best he could, the agony emanating from his right ankle, where he’d suffered an injury late in UNC’s victory Saturday against Duke.
When he hurt himself then, with about four and a half minutes to play during the Tar Heels’ triumph against the Blue Devils in a national semifinal, the pain became so unbearable Bacot feared he was done for the night. Indeed, he said here on Sunday, “I wasn’t even thinking about coming back into the game.”
