Armando Bacot being treated for back injury against UCLA

North Carolina center Armando Bacot is dealing with a back injury in Friday’s Sweet Sixteen matchup against UCLA. After the big man was seen being worked on near the Tar Heels bench, CBS Sports sideline reporter Jamie Erdahl provided an update.

“Bacot was getting treatment on his low back over on the bench over here,” Erdahl said on the broadcast. “He looked stiff as he walked around. He did a couple different massage treatments and sat on a pad on the seat. Obviously something’s uncomfortable with him, just something to keep an eye on.”

The injury did not keep Bacot sidelined for any significant period of time, as he re-entered the game around the four minute mark. So far he has made a big impact on the game, scoring six points to go along with seven rebounds. UNC trails UCLA by a score of 31-28 as the two teams enter halftime.

Tar Heels forward Brady Manek led the team with 10 first half points on 4-of-6 shooting. UNC ended the half shooting just 35.3% from the floor, compared to 50% from the Bruins, who had four players score at least seven points.

During the under eight timeout, CBS sideline reports Jamie Erdahl asked Davis about struggling defensively when UCLA goes up against them one on one. The North Carola head coach said they have to be better working as a team and ending Bruins’ possessions after just one shot.

“Well, we’re just not tied in defensively,” Davis said. “When I talked to them before the game — it’s not a one on one game, it’s a one on five game. So the guy that’s guarding the ball one on one player — there needs to be four defenders behind him in position to be able to help. Got to do a better job of contesting shots and rebounding so we can limit them to one shot for every possession.

In order to make the Elite Eight, North Carolina will hope Armando Bacot can play at a high level through his back injury. Even then, it still needs to find a way to stop Jules Bernard, Tyger Campbell, Jaime Jaquez, and Johnny Juzang Jr. on defense, as the quartet has combined for all of UCLA’s first half points.

On3’s Griffin McVeigh contributed to this report.