Armando Bacot admits disappointment in how North Carolina is playing

North Carolina has fallen far short of the preseason expectations that they came in with. The No. 1 team coming into the season now sits at 5-3 as the Tar Heels are amidst a three-game slide. Now, even one of their stars can’t help but express dismay at how he and his teammates are playing.

Armando Bacot shared his disappointment following North Carolina’s third straight loss on Wednesday, a 77-65 defeat against Indiana in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. He says it hurts that UNC isn’t meeting their goals because of how they’re performing after how they worked all offseason for these moments.

“I think, individually, none of us are playing at the level we need to play at. I don’t know. We’ve just got to figure it out,” Bacot said. “We worked so hard every day this summer leading up to it. We worked our tails off…When you’re not getting the results? It’s tough.”

North Carolina hasn’t looked convincing from their opening tip to today. They beat their first five mid-major opponents by an average of just under 12 points per game. That stretch included close calls against Charleston, Gardner-Webb, and Portland. UNC has since lost their next three games to Power-5 opponents in the Hoosiers as well as both Iowa State and Alabama in the Phil Knight Invitational.

It’s not that any one piece is hurting the Tar Heels. Bacot is averaging a double-double of 16.1 points and 11.1 rebounds, Caleb Love is averaging a career-best 19.1 points per game, and their other pieces like RJ Davis, Leaky Black, and Pete Nance are competing. For whatever reason, though, the puzzle isn’t coming together yet even with those pieces.

From here, Bacot says North Carolina has to find a way to get to the other end of the tunnel. They’ve dug themselves into a crater and now it’ll take a team effort to get them back out. As long as they do it together, though, Bacot believes they’ll find their way back and eventually put an improved brand of basketball on the floor that better lives up to what the expectations are for the Tar Heels.

“We love this school. We love everything about it and we want to win. But we’re not putting out the best product,” said Bacot. “It’s just unfortunate, it’s sad, and it’s something we have to go through. But we’re gonna grow through it and go through it as a team. I think that’s what’s most important.”