By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — After No. 3 North Carolina arrived at the Smith Center about midnight after the first conference loss of the season, the Tar Heels still couldn’t believe they had lost at Georgia Tech.
Rather than head back to their apartments, the players had a players-only meeting in the locker room that lasted about 90 minutes, ending a little before 2 a.m. There was a lot to talk about after a 74–73 loss to the Yellow Jackets for league-leading Carolina (17–4, 9–1 ACC).
“Just conversations about like the whole game,” RJ Davis said Thursday at a press conference ahead of the Tar Heels’ 6:30 home clash (ESPN) with No. 7 Duke (16–4, 7–2) on Saturday. “It’s obviously a game that we didn’t want to lose. But at the same time, just to not overreact, keeping our composure leading up to this game.”
Nobody stood up and said that they should meet. Rather, it started organically, with everybody weighing in.
“It was all of us,” RJ Davis said. “It wasn’t just one person talking and rambling. Everyone had to share their thoughts.”
Coach Hubert Davis wasn’t part of the meeting. He got home after 1 a.m. and watched video of the game before finally going to sleep at 3:45 a.m.
He was happy to hear about the meeting.
“Hearing that they had a meeting when we got back and talked about our team, that’s something that brings joy to my heart because this is their team,” Coach Davis said. “And for them to be able to do that, that does not surprise me at all.”
Armando Bacot said a big reason the players had the extended discussion was how tough the loss was, knowing that a couple more points would have meant taking a winning streak into the Duke game.
“Really just talking about some of the things we could have done better,” Bacot said. “But also it was like, damn, they hit a lot of crazy shots. And we looked back at the last play and thought it was kind of tough. But we don’t want to make excuses and just want to move forward.”
After the meeting, Bacot said they were ready to move on.
“We know we got to just flush it in the toilet and prepare for the game on Saturday because it’s a totally different team. It’s gonna be a different atmosphere,” Bacot said. “It was somewhat tough because we definitely should have won that game. We felt like we just left so much on the table. We wanted to keep the streak going. But we kind of just soaked it all in on Tuesday. And now we just moved on.”
The resumption of the greatest rivalry in sports awaits on Saturday.
UNC season statistics
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 3 Duke | 13–1 | 24–2 | 2 |
| No. 14 Virginia | 10–2 | 22–3 | 19 |
| Clemson | 10–3 | 20–6 | 31 |
| Miami | 9–3 | 20–5 | 35 |
| N.C. State | 9–4 | 18–8 | 29 |
| No. 16 North Carolina | 8–4 | 20–5 | 25 |
| No. 21 Louisville | 8–4 | 19–6 | 12 |
| SMU | 6–6 | 17–8 | 36 |
| California | 6–7 | 18–8 | 61 |
| Virginia Tech | 6–7 | 17–9 | 58 |
| Syracuse | 6–8 | 15–12 | 69 |
| Florida State | 5–7 | 12–13 | 82 |
| Stanford | 5–8 | 16–10 | 70 |
| Wake Forest | 4–8 | 13–12 | 64 |
| Notre Dame | 3–10 | 12–14 | 87 |
| Boston College | 2–10 | 9–16 | 152 |
| Georgia Tech | 2–11 | 11–15 | 165 |
| Pittsburgh | 2–11 | 9–17 | 124 |
* — Through Sunday games
Monday’s result
No. 3 Duke 101, Syracuse 64
Tuesday’s games
Boston College at Florida State, 6 p.m., ACC Network
No. 16 North Carolina at N.C. State, 7 p.m., ESPN
No. 21 Louisville at SMU, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Virginia Tech at Miami, 8 p.m., ACC Network
Wednesday’s games
Clemson at Wake Forest, 7 p.m., ACC Network
No. 14 Virginia at Georgia Tech, 9 p.m., ACC Network
Saturday’s games
Florida State at Clemson, noon, The CW
Wake Forest at Virginia Tech, noon, ACC Network
No. 16 North Carolina at Syracuse, 1 p.m., ABC
Miami at No. 14 Virginia, 2 p.m.
Notre Dame at Pittsburgh, 2 p.m., ACC Network
Georgia Tech at No. 21 Louisville, 2:15, The CW
Boston College at SMU, 4 p.m., ACC Network
Stanford at California, 6 p.m., ACC Network
No. 2 Michigan at No. 3 Duke, 6:30, ESPN
Monday’s game
No. 21 Louisville at No. 11 North Carolina, 7 p.m., ESPN
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. No. 23 BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. No. 8 Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 15 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 97–83 | at SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 14 | Wednesday | L, 95–90 | at Stanford | 14–3, 2–2 |
| 17 | Saturday | L, 84–78 | at California | 14–4, 2–3 |
| 21 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | vs. Notre Dame | 15–4, 3–3 |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 85–80 | at No. 14 Virginia | 16–4, 4–3 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 91–75 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 5–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 87–77 | vs. Syracuse | 18–4, 6–3 |
| 7 | Saturday | W, 71–68 | vs. No. 3 Duke | 19–4, 7–3 |
| 10 | Tuesday | L, 75–66 | at Miami | 19–5, 7–4 |
| 14 | Saturday | W, 79–65 | vs. Pittsburgh | 20–5, 8–4 |
| 17 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at N.C. State | ESPN |
| 21 | Saturday | 1 p.m. | at Syracuse | ABC |
| 23 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 21 Louisville | ESPN |
| 28 | Saturday | 6:30 or 8:30 | vs. Virginia Tech | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Clemson | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | at No. 3 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
