The North Carolina Tar Heels earned their 20th win on the year, beating Virginia Tech 96-81 on Saturday afternoon, avoiding a losing streak.

UNC was able to get back on track thanks in large part to the play of Armando Bacot who had 25 points and 13 rebounds and RJ Davis who added 20 points. Forward Harrison Ingram had a double-double to help pace the Tar Heels and never really let the Hokies get in the game in the second half.

It was a big win for a few different reasons.

With UNC holding a half-game lead in the ACC, they kept that lead with a win. They also avoided a big upset after being named the No. 5 overall seed in the selection committee’s first reveal of the seeding.

Following the game, head coach Hubert Davis talked about his team’s performance with a week off ahead. Here is what Davis had to say:

On if his team dictated the game with their play

“I wouldn’t use those words. I just, from an offensive standpoint, knew we wanted to dominate points in the paint through post penetration and offensive rebounding. We got 14 offensive rebounds. If we didn’t get the rebound, I felt like we did a nice job of keeping the ball alive. We shot more free throws than we did 3-pointers, so that’s something that we talked about and we did really well. And defensively I thought the first half we did well.

“The second half, percentage-wise it was fine. There were times where because of (Hunter) Cattoor and there are other guards who are really good coming off screens, I felt like they were able to get into the paint. And you know, we put them on the free throw line for 20 free throws. So those are things that we can clean up. Overall I felt really good about our performance.”

Via Inside Carolina 

On having a break before Virginia game

“It feels good. I think it’s a great time for us to have a week off to catch our breath. I think it’s a great week for us to physically just have a rest. But I think it’s also, and this is the most important thing, it’s a week of practice where we can practice and not necessarily prepare. And I think the games, you know our schedule, we’ve been practicing but we’ve been preparing for a game. Obviously, we need to do that for Virginia next week. But at the beginning of next week, we can actually have a practice and we can work on things that we need to improve on both ends of the floor and just sharpen the discipline and the details, those little things that allow us to experience big things. So this week is really big for us.”

via Inside Carolina

On Armando Bacot in the paint

“He outworked them. It is what it is. You can call whatever play you can design, whatever half-court set, if the player is not going to work hard to catch the ball where we want them to catch it in order to be able to do something, it’s just a waste of time. And so you know, one of the things that Armando did really well is in transition, his ability just to seal his man right in the middle of the paint. It’s a perfect place to get on the ball because they can’t double team.

“It’s in transition and he just did a really good job of getting good, low position and sealing. It was a really nice job of our players to get on the ball when he was open near the basket. And so we felt like it was an advantage for us to dominate points in the paint. It was an emphasis, it’s been an emphasis every day since the beginning of the year.”

via Inside Carolina

On who Harrison Ingram reminds him of

“Armando. I mean, he (Ingram) doesn’t do anything special. What he does, he goes every time. I mean there’s no technique. Rebounding is will, want-to, desire and toughness. Every time the ball goes up, yes, you can look at the shot and you can anticipate where, if it’s missed, where it would go. But it’s all about pursuit and willingness to go get the ball. He goes every time. Every time a shot goes up, he goes. And so he puts himself in a position, even tip-out loose balls. I really believe this, the ball finds effort. And he goes to the offensive glass every time, and it’s not surprising the ball ends up in his hands.”

via Inside Carolina

On Cormac Ryan' consistent 3-pt shooting

“In combination with Harrison and RJ, now you’ve got three guys that are shooting the ball at a high level. And what that does is that gives us even more space to give to Armando. It gives space to Armando, it gives space to our guards, Elliot being able to get into the gaps. It gives them spacing, everyone from an offensive standpoint. They talk about spacing, corner to corner quarter, spread everybody out, but if they can’t shoot people are still gonna be in the lane. You’ve got to have guys that can shoot. And so Cormac being more in rhythm from three now, that adds another, in combination with his reputation as an elite shooter. And it just opens up our offense even more.”

via Inside Carolinad

On UNC's schedule this week

“Tomorrow we have a Special Olympics event. And then Monday we’ll have run-and-shoot, and then practice on Tuesday. We’ll do some film work and some light stuff on Wednesday. And then Thursday and Friday, get ready to go.”

via Inside Carolina

Story originally appeared on Tarheels Wire