Armando Bacot, Caleb Love Shine as Blue Beats White in 2021 UNC Midnight Madness

Jeffrey Camarati/Getty Images

Let the new era of North Carolina Tar Heels basketball begin.

The Tar Heels held their Midnight Madness event Friday at the Dean E. Smith Center and welcomed the start of the 2021-22 basketball season by introducing fans to the members of the men’s and women’s teams.

There was also a scrimmage for the men’s team, and Armando Bacot and Caleb Love spearheaded a 60-45 victory for the Blue Team over the White Team.

The biggest storyline surrounding North Carolina this season is the start of the Hubert Davis era for the men’s side after legendary head coach Roy Williams retired in April. Williams led the Tar Heels for 18 seasons after coaching the Kansas Jayhawks for 15 and built one of the best resumes in college basketball history.

All he did at UNC was win three national championships, reach five Final Fours, capture nine ACC regular-season titles and win three ACC tournaments.

“The support system we have is something unmatched—it’s like our fans are a whole second family,” Malu Tshitenge, who is a forward on the women’s team, said, per the athletic department’s official website. “I’m so excited to have the fans back in the stands.”

Big man Armando Bacot echoed that sentiment:

“For me it’s gonna be like a blast from the past. But for a lot of the newer guys who have not gotten a chance to play in the Smith Center with fans, I told them this will be the most people you have ever gotten to play in front of in your whole life, so soak it in. I’m glad to have gotten a feeling of it earlier versus getting thrown out there in games and playing in front of all those people. It’s going to be fun.”

Here is some of what those fans saw Friday:

There was some competitiveness on the floor as well, and RJ Davis caught fire during the three-point contest and drained 19 triples from the top of the key in 45 seconds.

Davis also did his best to lead the White Team in the scrimmage with 14 points, but his side was overmatched in the loss to the Blue Team. Bacot and Love each scored 18 for the victors.

It isn’t particularly surprising Bacot and Love led the way considering they were the Tar Heels’ top two scorers last season.

Bacot averaged 12.3 points and 7.8 boards per night, while Love averaged 10.5 points and 3.6 assists per game.

They will both be critical if North Carolina is going to bounce back from last season’s disappointment when it lost by 23 points in the first round of the NCAA men’s tournament in a showdown with No. 9-seeded Wisconsin.

The men’s team starts the new season Nov. 9 against Loyola (Md.), while the women’s team opens the campaign on the same day against North Carolina A&T.