Kyle Filipowski chipped five of Armando Bacot’s teeth during Saturday’s Duke-UNC game

On Saturday, North Carolina forward Armando Bacot walked away with a win over Duke, but lost pieces of his teeth in the process. In an interview with Andy Katz, Bacot revealed how he chipped several of his teeth in UNC’s 93-84 victory over the Blue Devils.

“Man, I chipped five teeth, so I’m going through it right now,” Bacot said. “As soon as we get off this, I gotta go to the doctor. [Kyle] Filipowski just went through my face. It was a good move, honestly. I can’t be mad because I was in his cylinder. I told him. Honestly, I might have actually fouled him, but yeah, it felt bad.”

While Bacot didn’t escape unscathed, he won the war against Filipowski. In the win, Bacot exploded for a game-high 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists while shooting 10-13 from the field. Meanwhile, Filipowski tallied 22 points and five boards on 9-17 shooting.

The matchup was personal for the two players. Filipowski was voted the ACC Player of the Year by the media in the preseason poll, receving 51 votes. Armando Bacot reeled in 50 votes, himself. Despite any bloodshed on the court, Bacot respects Filipowski’s game.

“Guarding somebody like Filipowski, it’s always a tough matchup because he can pop, he can drive, he can do a lot of different things. I’m a little bit bigger than him too, so it helps me get an advantage,” Bacot said.

Hubert Davis proud of North Carolina’s gritty performance

North Carolina and Duke have split their last six matchups 3-3. UNC needed this one. Only four days before downing their arch-nemesis, the Tar Heels fell in stunning 74-73 fashion to Georgia Tech. UNC head coach Hubert Davis is proud of how his team bounced back.

“It doesn’t happen all the time, but this team, I think one of the characteristics of this team has been being able to handle a little bit of adversity and bounce back,” Davis said after UNC’s win over the Blue Devils. “One of the things that we always talk about is, whether good things or bad things happen, the only thing you have control over is how you react and how you respond. 

“I feel like all year our guys have done a really good job reacting and responding, whether something’s going well for us or we’re struggling with it.”