Hubert Davis reveals a fighting message
The no. 22 North Carolina Tar Heels beat the No. 14 Virginia Cavaliers 85-80 on Saturday, and the head coach Hubert Davis was open when he spoke about how his group managed to get back after a bad start to the competition.
“I don’t think the energy was gone in the first half. I think the physicality of Virginia overwhelmed us in the first half. And I told them, I said, the only way is to get both those fists up and start swinging. You’ve got to compete,” Davis told reporters after the game.
“They’re not going anywhere. If you want to win this game, it’s going to be in the trenches, playing hard on both ends of the floor. And I felt like in the second half we did that.”
Virginia led by as many as 16 points, but North Carolina outscored it 51-37 in the second half. Freshman forward Caleb Wilson had 20 points, four rebounds and two assists, while junior forward Jarin Stevenson added 17 points and one rebound off the bench.
According to Davis, Wilson and Stevenson’s play in transition was a critical component of what helped the Tar Heels pull off the upset.
“100 percent. I mean, that’s what we’ve focused on all year. I’ve always said since before the season, I want to be the fastest team in the country from the free throw line to the free throw line, and the way we transition from defense to offense has to be real. To do that, you have to rebound. We rebounded better in the second half,” Davis said.
“You talked about Jarin and Caleb, their ability to sprint up the middle of the floor, they did exactly what they were told to do. They did their job and they did their job and we got a little bit of a lead until some easy baskets that got us back in the game.”
North Carolina is now 4-3 in ACC play. They will take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Saturday.
2026-01-25 18:51:00
