Armando Bacot posted 19 points and 11 rebounds and No. 16 North Carolina overcame another shaky beginning for a 73-67 victory against visiting North Carolina Central on Saturday afternoon in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Caleb Love and Day'Ron Sharpe each added 12 points and Andrew Platek provided 11 points for the Tar Heels (4-2), who snapped a two-game losing streak.

C.J. Keyser's 19 points, Justin Whatley's 13 points, Nicolas Fennell's 11 points and Jamir Moultrie's 10 points paced NC Central (1-3). The Eagles scored the game's last nine points.

North Carolina missed its first 10 shots from 3-point range until back-to-back shots from the right wing by Platek pushed the Tar Heels to a 55-42 lead. Those were their only successful 3s (on 15 total attempts).

North Carolina used a 10-0 stretch for a 30-28 halftime lead -- going up on RJ Davis' layup for his only first-half basket -- after facing a first-half double-digit deficit for the fourth time this season. The Tar Heels were 12-for-18 on free throws before the break, with the Eagles not attempting a first-half foul shot.

Bacot scored 15 first-half points, helping negate the Tar Heels' 0-for-7 shooting on 3-pointers. Davis' layup gave North Carolina the lead at the break.

The Eagles built a 19-8 lead before three-point plays by Platek and Walker Kessler on consecutive North Carolina possessions perked up the Tar Heels.

Moultrie, who had eight points at the time, picked up his fourth foul less than two minutes into the second half. He fouled out at the 5:47 mark.

NC Central, which is located in nearby Durham, was a midweek addition to North Carolina's schedule after Elon, which had been slated for a visit on this date, backed out when its program went on a coronavirus-related pause.

This was the third meeting between the Eagles and Tar Heels, with North Carolina winning each time. All those meetings have taken place at the Smith Center, where this latest matchup was void of fans other than a few families of team members.

--Field Level Media