CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Basketball Coach Hubert Davis met with the media Thursday afternoon at the Smith Center in advance of the Tar Heels’ home game against Duke on Saturday night here in this building.
The Tar Heels have won six consecutive games and are playing their best basketball of the season. At 20-11 overall and 13-6 in the ACC, UNC is in position to get into the NCAA Tournament, but that includes taking care of business against the Blue Devils.
Davis took questions for 18 minutes about a variety of topics including his surging team, RJ Davis’ career as he prepares for his final game in the Dean Dome, Jae’Lyn Withers, Drake Powell, the team’s perimeter shooting, how much he looks at the first game against Duke, and about the Blue Devils, whom Carolina’s coach says have improved since the first meeting five weeks ago.
In that game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on February 1, Duke led by 32 points with a little more than nine minutes left before beating the Heels 87-70. The Blue Devils are 27-3 overall and 18-1 in the ACC. If they win Saturday, they will outright win the ACC regular season title and be the top seed at the ACC Tournament next week in Charlotte. If Duke loses and Clemson and Louisville win Saturday, the Devils will be the three seed in Charlotte.
Above is video of Davis’ presser and below are some notes from what he had to say:
*The biggest difference between the Tar Heels on February 1 and today?
“I wouldn’t necessarily point to one thing; I think there’s a number of things that we’ve improved on. Consistency on both ends, just the consistency of doing the little things on the defensive end in terms of boxing out, rebounding, trying to defend without fouling, protecting the paint.
“Offensively, doing a better job taking care of the basketball, getting to the offensive glass, not taking bad shot, getting good shots, and I think that’s contributed to us scoring really well of late.
“So, just the consistency of doing the things that allow you to be successful, I think we’re doing them consistently well more. That’s what I think.”
*Asked how much more confident his team is now than when it went into the first meeting, Davis didn’t offer a difference saying his team was confident then. But he repeatedly noted how confident the team is right now during the presser.
*Davis says the players are “settled into their roles and that gives us more confidence.”
*The Tar Heels are 65-for-136 (47.8%) from 3-point range during the six-game win streak. Why have they been so much more accurate?
Davis says the shots they are getting is a big key. He says it begins inside by scoring more, that opens the perimeter, and guys are getting better shots.
*Davis was asked a few questions about RJ Davis, he told a really good story about recruiting him and how he almost accidentally found him at an AAU event.
*After being asked about his own team, Davis was asked somewhat a preview question about Duke, to which he immediately replied, “They’re surging, too.” It generated quite a bit of laughter in the press room.
Davis went on to outline the many reasons the Blue Devils are playing well.
*In addition, Davis spoke about Drake Powell being a more consistent scorer of late, how the Heels playing bigger better situates them against the lengthy Blue Devils, and the improvement in Ven-Allen Lubin’s hands.
