CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Coach Hubert Davis met with the media Friday afternoon at the Smith Center in advance of the Tar Heels’ home game versus NC State on Saturday evening.

Davis discussed Armando Bacot as the senior continues etching his name into Carolina’s record books, Pete Nance’s and Jalen Washington’s health, Nance’s play and meshing, and quite a bit on State’s Terquavion Smith, D.J. Burns, and its defensive pressure.

The Tar Heels and Wolfpack tip at 5 PM and the game will air on the ACC Network.

Above is video of Davis’ presser, and before are some notes and a few pulled quotes from what he had to say:

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*Jalen Washington practiced Thursday and will play Saturday, Davis said.

“He practiced yesterday,” Davis said. “So, Jalen will be back, he’ll be available.”

*Nance played 30 minutes in the win over Boston College on Tuesday night, and when on the bench, he wore a heating brace around his mid-section to warm the lower back, and also sat on added cushions to keep him from having to bend his knees and stress the lower back.

UNC didn’t practice Wednesday, though Nance got plenty of treatment, but the Heels did practice Thursday, and Davis says he looked fine, but then went on to relay a conversation he had with Nance about his play and what he wants more of.

“He says he felt great,” Davis said. “And one of the things that he came in the office the day after and we talked. I asked him specifically, ‘How did you feel, what kind of things do you feel like you can do better.’

“We had a good conversation about the things I’d like him to do more out there on the floor. He had a career-high in offensive rebounds (three), I liked that he attacked the offensive glass.

“Pete is such a great person, and such a great teammate, sometimes he’s such a great teammate he wants to fit in. We had a really great conversation, and I told him that the way that he fits in; the reason why we wanted him was to be a big-time player. ‘You’re not stepping on anybody’s toes, we need you to be aggressive out there on both ends of the floor.’

“It’s something not only that we want, it’s something we need and one hundred percent know that he can do. So, I challenged him to take it up other levels in terms of his aggressiveness on the offensive end; not just shooting the ball from three, but attacking the basket, getting to the free throw line, running the floor, and defensively just being a presence because of his length and athleticism.”

*UNC has not had all 13 scholarship players available for any game this season. It won’t, technically, because Will Shaver will not play again this season. But, considering the core of players, it should have everyone Saturday versus the Wolfpack.

According to UNC, third and fourth weeks of November only time the entire roster could practice – Jalen Washington was able to practice but not play yet at that time. That was before Shaver got hurt, before D’Marco Dunn broke a bone in his hand, and well before Pete Nance essentially missed four games.

*The 1993 national championship team will be honored at halftime of Saturday’s game. Davis played with most of those guys, as he graduated the year before and was the team’s leading scorer. He feels very strongly about having that team here and the connection the current players can have to them and the program’s past.

“A number of them are already here, so they’ll be coming to practice today,” Davis said. “After the game, more than likely we’ll have them in the locker room just to be able to interact with our guys.

“The 97 and 98 teams with Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter came during our exhibition game against Johnson C. Smith, and having (players) from that era come in and just being able to interact with our players was really huge.

“Plus, this is very important to me. It’s important for me that whomever you played for, whether you played for Coach Smith, Coach Guthridge, Coach Doherty, or Coach Williams, it’s really important for the former players to come back and be able to identify with this place as, ‘the place where I went to school. This is the Carolina that I went to.’”

*UNC and State are tied for the ACC lead in scoring 79.6 points per contest. Davis says he sort of has a number in mind he wants his team to score. Obviously, more than the opponent, but he offered a bit more in the response.

“My number, my goal, I think the highest per-game average by a Carolina team was the 1986-87 team (91.3 ppg)…,” he said. “I actually talked to the team last year, and Coach (Jeff) Lebo was on that team, and I told Coach Lebo, ‘We’re going to beat your team, we’re gonna beat you guys.’

“It’s higher than 80, I know it is. That’s where I want to be.”

That said, Davis thinks more about the other end of the court with this club.

“Honestly, where my focus is now, has nothing to do with offense. I think we can score. It’s all about defense.”