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CHAPEL HILL - North Carolina players Armando Bacot, Leaky Black, and Brady Manek met with the media Tuesday morning before leaving for Fort Worth, TX, to face Marquette in the NCAA Tournament.

The trio fielded questions for about ten minutes and discussed several topics, including having a standard NCAA Tournament, showing fight, and much more.

Below are the videos of the entire press conferences, and some notes and pulled quotes from what they had to say:

*Armando Bacot has never gotten to play in a "normal" NCAA tournament. His first year, the season had to be cut short due to the spread of COVID 19 though the Heels were likely not going to make the tournament. In his sophomore campaign, the NCAA held its competition in a bubble setting, with the whole event taking place in Indianapolis. As things continue to get back to normal, Bacot is looking forward to having the NCAA experience of a typical UNC player.

"Yeah, it was just a little different with it being the whole bubble thing, he said. But I definitely plan on and want to get to the next weekend, and really get to experience everything as a whole. "

*In the games against Miami and Wake Forest, the Demon Deacons and the Hurricanes ambushed the Tar Heels. Miami hit UNC with a 14-0 first-half run, while Wake Forest went on a 13-2 first-half run. Unfortunately for the Heels, UNC didn't respond with an attack of its own, and both games resulted in blowout losses. However, since then, Carolina has won 12 of its 15 games and has shown more fight.

A mantra Hubert Davis gave his team before the Duke game is, 'Stand your ground and fight back.' After seeing the team's success with that mindset, All-ACC first-team big man Bacot says the team will continue with that mentality moving forward.

"Yeah, I think that's what we have been living on since that game," said Bacot. "We try to go out there and punch people in the mouth first now. I think that will be something we need to do come Thursday. They are a physical team, they got a good coach, some good players, fast, so we go to be ready."

*The 2022 NCAA Tournament will mark the fourth time Manek has played in the event. When the 6-foot-9 sharpshooter chose to play his final year of eligibility in Chapel Hill, the possibility of making a deep run in March significantly impacted his decision.

In the three tournaments Manek has played with Oklahoma, the Sooners have one loss in the first round and two in the second. But, with Manek's last chance at a championship on the horizon, the Oklahoma native wants to make it further than he ever has.

"Yeah, I would say making the tournament is a big step," Manek explained. "But I want to win a couple of games. I have only won one game before. I want to win more than once and continue playing for a little bit longer."

*A mistake inexperienced teams often make in March is looking ahead and not focusing on the game in front of it. With a relatively young roster, Manek has made sure to echo coach Davis' message of taking the tournament one game at a time.

"The big thing coach has been focusing on is, we only get on loss from here on out," Manek said. "We only get one chance. We have to take every game one step at a time, just win as many as we can."

*Shaka Smart spent six seasons at Texas where he managed to build a 3-0 record against UNC. While all three games were competitive, with the average margin of victory being 2.3 points.

Senior forward Black can see how badly Davis would like to end the streak against Smart.

"He's been so locked in," said Black. "With the record against Texas and Shaka Smart, you can imagine how intense he has been. Especially yesterday, he was so dialed in. That led us to having a great practice and having another one today."

*Last season the pomp and circumstance of the NCAA Tournament weren't the same with fans not in attendance. While Black wants his teammates to enjoy the experience, he wants them to remember to focus on what's in their control.

"I told them how crazy it was for sure," Black said. "I am preaching to the guys just one game at a time, not to look ahead. Control what we can control. We can't control who wins or loses, but we can control how hard we play whenever we get a chance to lace them up, so that's what I have been telling them."