***************************************************************************************
***************************************************************************************
North Carolina Coach Hubert Davis met with the media following his team’s 70-65 loss to Iowa State on Friday in the semifinals of the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland.
The Tar Heels were led by RJ Davis’ 15 points, while Armando Bacot added 13 and Caleb Love 12.
UNC shot 44 percent from the field, including 16.7 percent (3-for-18) from 3-point range. The Cyclones were 9-for-20 from three, which was the difference in the game.
Top-ranked UNC dropped to 5-1 while Iowa State improved to 5-0. UNC will play the loser between UConn and Alabama for third place on Sunday.
Here is what Hubert Davis had to say after the game:
Q: What happened? Up by 7, with 3 mins to go
DAVIS: “I need to look at the tape in that situation up by seven with three minutes to go, you just have to be sound on both ends of the floor. In order for Iowa State to be able to come back they needed to make plays and they did. Caleb Cribb threes, he was hot entire game but somebody percentage wise wasn't shooting the ball well coming into the game but really doesn’t matter he was feeling it today.
“He made some big shots, we turned the ball over a couple of times, you just can’t do in late games situations, you have to be sound and discipline and you have to do that in both ends of the floor. We just didn’t do it tonight.”
Q: With your guys' experience, did you expect your guys to play better in that situation?
DAVIS: “Just because you are experienced, it doesn't mean you are perfect. You can have all the experience in the world. I am 52 years old and I have 52 years of experience and I make mistakes every day. I don’t know if experience makes you oblivious to making mistakes on both ends of the floor. I wished we would have handled it differently and we didn’t. The next time we are in the situation I am hoping we handle it differently.”
Q: How much did the 1-3-1 affect what you wanted to do?
DAVIS: “We were prepared for it. They had never done that before but we played teams that have played the 1-3-1 and we knew exactly what we wanted to get from it. We got shots from it, they didn’t turn the ball over. One thing it does is take you out of rhythm and one of the things you don’t want to do is keep passing back at the top of the key over and over again, you want to attack those gaps and get the ball below free throw line extended and still penetrate and attack the basket through post and penetration and offensive rebounds.
“I felt like we got shots against it, i don’t feel like it turned us over. We had wide open threes, we were able to get to the basket, we were able to get whatever we wanted, we just didn't make those shots.”
Q: Armando’s first-half passing was well, but late turnovers trying to pass that were costly.
DAVIS: “One of the things you have to compliment Iowa state, they have tremendous pressure. Coming into this game, they were number one in the country in forced turnovers. So, we knew that type of physicality and pressure would come but not just on our guards like RJ and Caleb but on everyone.
“In those situations, they kind of speed you up a little bit and I felt like they did. Just didn’t make sound passes and fundamental plays. That just really hurt us but again if someone would say if you're up seven with three minutes to go, would you take that? I’d take it.”
Q: Off shooting night?
DAVIS: “I wouldn't say that’s it. I think that’s a story, a piece of it but I don’t think that's it. From a defensive standpoint when we were good, we were really good, when we were bad, we were bad. I think taking care of the basketball, staying sound defensively consistently throughout the entire game, I think our shooting, we missed some free throws, and we still shot 72 percent from free throw line, but we miss some free throws that we normally don't miss.
“And you have to congratulate Iowa State sometimes a team makes plays and you have to congratulate them on the win tonight.”
Q: Second fewest bench minutes in the country before the game tonight, do you plan on continuing that trend?
DAVIS: “I love playing with a number of guys. I think (Trimble) gave us really good minutes today, D’Marco (Dunn) and puff gave us tremendous minutes off the bench. We are going to need them. We are going to need others to step up and play quality minutes out there on the floor.
“It's just not sustainable to play starting five 30-plus minutes a night, you need guys to step up but you also need people to not only get playing but to play well too. That is something that will continue to look at, continue to grow, and again, it's only November, we have played six games.”
Q: What did you tell the player in the locker room about Sunday?
DAVIS: “We will be ready. I keep my comments very quick after the game with a win or loss. I told them this was an opportunity to get better and learn. We will look at the tape and see the things we did well so we continue to do those things and the things we need to fix. Let's talk about it and let's fix it.
“Again, tomorrow is a great day to rest and also to practice and get ready to play either an unbelievable Alabama team or UConn team. So, either way, it's another opportunity for us Sunday.”
Q: Losing number one ranking, is that even a subject you bring up with the team?
DAVIS: “The things I talk about to the team are stuff that is real and helpful to the team. I will not bring that up to them, I don't pay attention to it, I don't look at it, I don't know what that means trying to think about who was the number one team on November 26 last year, I can't remember.
“I try to think about who the number one team was two years ago in November. I can't remember but I remember the NCAA champions. Let's just focus on what is real and our improvement, continue to get better and at the end of the day see how good this team can become.”
