UNC’s Bacot leaves loss to UVA with ankle injury

North Carolina leading scorer and rebounder Armando Bacot left Tuesday night’s 65-58 loss at No. 13 Virginia just over a minute into the game after injuring his left ankle.Bacot rolled

his ankle 1:18 into the contest and did not return. He was changed by Jalen Washington, a freshman, who played 27 minutes in Bacot’s absence and matched his season overall for basket with five, as North Carolina went on a 21-5 run in the very first half and led by 7 points early in the second.Tar Heels coach Hubert Davis said he didn’t see the play on which Bacot was injured– “I simply saw him on the ground, “Davis said– and had no update on his star’s status. “I understand he’s hurt quite bad.

I understand he remains in a great deal of discomfort,”Davis stated, adding he didn’t find out that Bacot wouldn’t return until halftime. “I just want him to be okay.” Armaan Franklin started Virginia’s second-half rally with a putback dunk, and Ben Vander Plas also had a putback dunk and a set of threes, putting Virginia (12-3, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) ahead 52-42 with nine minutes left.Reece Beekman scored 13 points, and Franklin had 12 points and nine rebounds as the Cavaliers won their 8th straight meeting with the Tar Heels at John Paul Jones Arena.The Tar Heels (11-6, 3-3)closed within 58-55 on

Caleb Love’s 3-pointer with 2:47 to go, but Isaac McKneely struck a deep 3 in front of the Virginia bench to bring back the result in 6. Love made another 3, however Beekman drove an open lane for a dunk, Vander Plas made a take and soaked and Kihei Clark forced a turnover to seal it.The Associated Press contributed to this report.