What Hubert Davis said after North Carolina’s loss to Georgia Tech
The North Carolina Tar Heels’ win streak is over. On Tuesday, the Tar Heels were stunned in Atlanta, falling to Georgia Tech 74-73, falling to 17-4 on the year and 9-1 in conference play.
It was a sloppy game overall for the Tar Heels but despite that, they held a lead in the first half. However, the Yellow Jackets put the pressure on in the second half and grabbed the lead. Even with an RJ Davis bucket late to take the lead, the Yellow Jackets answered back and got a layup late for the go-ahead bucket.
With a big game against Duke at home on Saturday, North Carolina has to wash this out of their mind quickly. A loss was bound to happen at some point and now, the Tar Heels really have to lock in and get ready for the rest of the year.
But before we look too far ahead, let’s see what Hubert Davis had to say following Tuesday’s loss:
On lack of confidence in final 10 minutes
“No, I don’t. I wouldn’t characterize that. I felt like, especially in the first half, I felt like from an offensive standpoint, we were sped up for some reason. And I just think, as a result, turnovers and stepping out of bounds. Turning the ball over was a result of us just moving a little bit too fast. We talked about offensively, executing with purpose and pace. And I felt like we were in a hurry, but I thought we were poised down the stretch. And I think we were down by seven or eight and ended up taking the lead with 30 seconds to go. So I was really proud of them.”
Via Inside Carolina
On not being able to extend the lead in first half
“Well, I mean, you’ve got to compliment Georgia Tech. We did have a double-figure lead in the first half, and (then) defensively we made mistakes on coverages, and they capitalized on it. And you know, they’re a good basketball team and played extremely well at home. They’re a team that’s beat Duke here once and against Clemson. Outstanding team, and so during those times you want to extend the lead and we just didn’t and went into halftime tied.”
Via Inside Carolina
On subbing Armando Bacot out
“Well, Armando is one of the better players in the country. And Georgia Tech was doing a really good job of getting second-chance opportunities. I think in the first four or five minutes, they had six or seven offensive rebounds. ‘J-Wash’ (Jalen Washington) gave us some really good minutes in the first half, and I wanted to give him a look.”
via Inside Carolina
On final play for Georgetown
“I knew that anybody on Georgia Tech could make a play. And so you know, George feels comfortable in those situations. But we had the matchup and Armando is a great on-ball defender, he can guard guards out on the perimeter. I thought he did a terrific job and it was just a really good shot by George.”
via Inside Carolina
On UNC's last possession
“We wanted to get the ball to RJ on the run and we were able to do that. I felt like he was in a position where, you know, he had an angle on his guy and had a couple steps. Other than that, I couldn’t see anything (whether there was contact). Last thing I saw, I saw RJ on the ground. And so you know, their last two baskets were a fadeaway bank three, and going the opposite, wrong hand direction banked floater over Armando (Bacot). So you know, they were able to make one more play than us.”
via Inside Carolina
On overall message to team after loss
“I mean, I was proud of them. Let’s go back to work. Let’s fly home, let’s go back to work and let’s get ready for our next game. Whether things work out for you or not, you can’t lay down. You can whine and complain, you can point fingers and you can make excuses, or you can get back up and move forward. To me, there’s not really a choice, you just get back up and move forward. And so we’ve done that this year. It’s been a tough and resilient group and we’ll get back up and move forward and become a better team.”
via Inside Carolina
