Hubert Davis challenges the Tar Heels
The start of the 2025-26 season was promising for Hubert Davis and North Carolina Basketballbut the Tar Heels are falling on hard times in ACC play. That continued on Saturday as well North Carolina has fallen into a major pothole against a spirited Cal team before a late comeback effort fell short in an 84-78 loss.
It’s North Carolina’s second straight loss and third in four games in conference play in January, after Davis and company also dropped road games against SMU and Stanford. The Tar Heels offense has been a little inconsistent, but the defense is what really let them down. Davis called out just that after his team’s latest loss, via Spencer Haskell of On3 Sports.
“Keep reps, keep practicing, keep coaching and keep holding guys accountable for it,” Davis said. “And also, throughout the year, everybody goes through some struggles, whether it’s at the beginning of the year, the middle of the year, you hope it’s not at the end of the year, and you have to find a way to overcome it. And those are some mistakes that we’ve gone through this week and three of the last four games, and we’re going to have to respond and fight back.
“We have an opportunity to do this. I love these kids. I have an amazing, great team to coach. I love being around them, and we’re going to figure it out.”
North Carolina remains fine in the big picture of the NCAA Tournament after a non-conference streak that included wins over Kentucky and Kansas, but these losses revealed some problems the Tar Heels must solve in the coming weeks as they delve deeper into conference play. The middle of the ACC is much stronger than it has been in years past, and this team will be constantly tested as a result.
Davis and company should feel good about their chances to get back on track against a struggling Notre Dame squad on Wednesday before taking on a red-hot Virginia team on Saturday. Two wins there would put North Carolina back in the discussion at the top of the ACC in February.
2026-01-18 17:01:00
