Just like in the Villanova game, Kansas’ Ochai Agbaji came down and hit a three pointer. Kansas jumped out to an early 7-0.

But Carolina kept plugging away, until Caleb Love hit a jumper to tie the game at 18. They traded baskets to make the game tied at 22 with 6 minutes in the half.

And then everything went Carolina Blue. Brady Manek is a fighter. Early in the game, he got hit in the face with an inadvertent elbow from David McCormack. Later in the half, he got hit in the face again going for a rebound. Most people would be knocked out with a concussion. Maybe Manek has a concussion. But his response to that was hitting back-to-back three pointers to start a 16-0 run.

Armando Bacot is a beast! All the talk about his ankle! Even Coach Hubert Davis mentioned his ankle his hurting, but if they can get 52 percent of Bacot, that will be good for Carolina basketball. Bacot has 12 points and 10 rebounds for a double double in the first half!!!! He also drew tons of fouls – as the 4 Kansas forwards go into the 2nd half with 7 fouls.

RJ Davis also added 11 points by driving to the hoop and getting to the line.

Kansas’ Ochai Agbaji had a decent first half with 8 points. But Christian Braun shot 1-7 from the field and Jalen Wilson shot 1-6 from the field. David McCormack also struggled inside as he tried to force shots up in the lane against Bacot.

The Tar Heels are winning this game with interior defense as they are the team owning the paint. They will take a 15 point lead to start the second half.