LAHAINA, HI – The appetizer for North Carolina’s four-game trip to the Hawaiian Islands came last Friday when the Tar Heels beat the University of Hawaii by 18 points. The true test begins Monday when UNC takes on Dayton in the opening round of the loaded Maui Invitational.
The No. 10 Tar Heels beat the Rainbow Warriors, 87-69, and while the team has had time for some fun and to see the many sights in Honolulu and now Maui, they are here to play basketball first and foremost, and each opponent they face Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are good enough to deliver Hubert Davis’ team a loss.
"I told the guys before, this is a business trip," Davis said during a Maui Invitational media day Sunday morning and the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort. "This is not a vacation. We are here to become a better basketball team, and that is our number one focus."
Part of becoming a better basketball team is playing in a format that calls for quick turnarounds. After facing the Flyers on Monday, the Tar Heels will play either No. 4 Auburn or No. 5 Iowa State regardless of the outcome in the opener. Wednesday’s opponent will be one of the four teams from the other side of the bracket, again regardless of the outcomes the first two days.
Those teams are No. 2 UConn, Michigan State, Memphis, and Colorado.
“It’s very similar to the ACC Tournament,” Davis said, referring to playing on consecutive days, and possibly three straight. “And one of the things that we talk to the players all the time is the discipline and the details and just habits (learned) from practice time.”
Carolina has had a little bit of time to prepare for a Dayton team that is 5-0 with wins over Northwestern and by 19 points over New Mexico State. Back when Davis played at UNC from 1988-92, the Tar Heels didn’t do much advance scouting in events like the Maui Invitational or Great Alaska Shootout, which was the most noteworthy November even at that time.
“There were no scouting reports," Davis said. "Coach (Dean) Smith used to put the names up on the board. He put a star next to a guy that can shoot, and two stars next to a guy that can really shoot. That's it. We didn't walk through plays, we didn't see film, we didn't go through a scout report.
“He just felt like, if you just did the things that you practice in practice, whatever happens on the floor puts you in a position to be successful."
It was all about the Tar Heels, and the focus was on them getting better. That remains the mission here in Lahaina, but so it winning the tournament.
No program has played in the Maui Invitational more than Carolina, with the Tar Heels winning it in 1999, 2004, 2008 and 2016. UNC last played in it in 2020, but it was held in Asheville, NC, that season because of Covid. Carolina lost to Texas in the title game, and to redeem itself from then, which included RJ Davis on that team, and the last two seasons when the Heels lost November tournaments in Portland and The Bahamas, they must get off to a good start Monday against a quality Dayton team.
“They are a physical team with terrific guard play,” Davis said. “They’ll pick up full-court pressure… try to create turnovers. They are a good basketball team.”
So is Carolina, and if it’s a Maui Invitational champion, it must win three games in three days starting Monday at 11:30 PM.
*THI Publisher Andrew Jones contributed to this article.
