Armando Bacot: We try to get out of the way when Caleb Love is rolling

Armando Bacot knows when Caleb Love gets in the zone, it’s best to just get him the ball. That was the case Friday evening in a Sweet Sixteen matchup against the UCLA Bruins, when Love’s late game heroics helped the Tar Heels to a 73-66 win.

After scoring just three points in the first half, the 6-foot-4 sophomore caught fire for 27 second half points. That included both the game-tying and go-ahead 3-pointers, the latter of which came with just under a minute to play. In a postgame press conference, Armando Bacot explained what was going through his mind as he watched Caleb Love’s second half surge.

“I mean, my main focus was really just trying to save good swings and getting him open and trying to get the switch on the big,” Bacot said. “And then just being on the weak side, so if they drove, I know he would get it to me to try to get the rebound if he missed a shot. But I think for all of us, we just tried to get out of his way and just let him work.”

Love wasn’t the only Tar Heel to have a big night, as Bacot finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds. UNC shot 40.9% from the floor as a team and 32.3% from 3-point range in the win.

Love is averaging 19.3 points per game on a 40 percent (18-45) field goal clip while making 43 percent (13-30) of his 3-point attempts in the NCAA Tournament. Despite scoring just five in UNC’s upset win over top-seeded Baylor, Love has scored 20-plus against Marquette and now UCLA.

North Carolina now moves on to face 15-seeded Saint Peter’s at 5:05 p.m. ET Sunday for a trip to the Final Four. The Peacocks are the undisputed Cinderella team from this year’s NCAA Tournament after pulling off upsets against Kentucky, Murray State and Purdue. If the Tar Heels win that game, it could set up a potential rematch with rival Duke in the Final Four. However, the Blue Devils would first need to beat Arkansas, with that game set to tip off at 8:49 p.m. ET Saturday.