By R.L. Bynum
LAHAINA, Hawaii — Coach Hubert Davis has seen enough stretches to know that No. 10 North Carolina can play at an elite level. His mission is to be that efficient more consistently.
That will be even more important during the three-day Maui Invitational, which features an elite field and begins with a first-round game Monday at 11:30 p.m. (ESPN2) against 5–0 Dayton.
“One of the things that I have talked to them about is we have been at that level that I feel like you have to be in order to compete against teams like this,” Davis said during an ocean-side press conference Sunday. “But you’ve got to start there. You got to stay there, and that’s the next step for us. Can we start there? Can we stay at that level and on both ends of the floor?”
The part of Carolina’s game that has most pleased Davis is the pace, which has produced a 41–1 edge in fast-break points in the last two games. Fueling the transition game will be important, particularly given the rebounding challenges that the Tar Heels will face in some games.
“I think consistently and early in the season, our pace has been good,” Davis said. “The way that we transition from defense to offense, even after a made basket, we’re up the floor in scoring position pretty quickly.”
It’s not hard to figure out the part of UNC’s game that has most concerned Davis — rebounding.
“It just goes down to defensive rebounding,” he said. “Against Hawaii, they exposed us. We got outrebounded by 13. That’s just not going to work this week and the remainder of this season. We’ve got to find a way against a physical, taller, bigger team to be able to rebound the basketball. That’s just going to be an issue for us all year.”
There are no easy games at this event in paradise, with Division III Chaminade no longer participating. Carolina (3–1) is a victim of poor bracket seeding since, win or lose Monday, the Tar Heels will play either No. 4 Auburn (4–0) or No. 5 Iowa State (3–0) on Tuesday.
“It’s not the Final Four, but it’s a real cool experience that only can happen here in Maui,” Davis said.
Davis is familiar with the heat and the closer proximity of the fans at the Lahaina Civic Center since he played in the event in 1991 and has been an assistant coach at the tournament twice.
“It’s always been a stacked field,” Davis said, except when Chaminade was involved. “Three competitive games. To be able to do it here is a pretty cool deal for me. I get to see it from all different perspectives, and I’m excited about it.”
Davis said the experience is very similar to the ACC tournament when there is only the potential of playing three successive days (or more if you are a lower seed). He says the team will have to stay focused.
“One of the things that I’ve talked to the players all the time is to be bound by the discipline and details,” Davis said. “And that’s just the habits created over practice, over time, even starting from the summer.”
Unlike when he played at the Maui Invitational and assistant coach Bill Guthridge had them take pre-dawn bike rides down a mountain, the team has no specific off-the-court activities.
“I told the guys before; this is a business trip. This is not a vacation,” Davis said. “We are here to become a better basketball team, and that is our number one focus.”
Davis said adjusting to the five-hour time difference is “a big deal.” Carolina is the only one of the four teams from the Eastern Time Zone that played a game on the way to Maui, winning 87–69 at Hawai’i on Friday. The only other team that played a road game before Maui was Memphis, which won Thursday at San Francisco 68–64.
“Getting over here [in Honolulu] on Wednesday and playing on Friday, I feel like we’ve adjusted, and we’re on this time zone,” Davis said. “But it’s an adjustment, and the travel wears on you. So, you have to adjust practice in order to help our guys be at our best. Having a chance to play a road game, it was sold out against Hawaii. So, just another opportunity to find out more about our team and what we need to improve on.”
The Tar Heels go from playing in a ballroom last season in the Bahamas at the Battle 4 Atlantis (where the UNC women’s team is playing this week) to an intimate gym about the size of most high school facilities. It has a reputation for being a shooter’s gym with soft rims.
“It is hot,” said Davis, who will eschew his usual sport coat game attire for a golf shirt. “It’s a great place to play. I don’t remember the rims. I don’t really pay attention to that. Baskets and gyms are the same, and the crowd is right on top of you. And we got to practice the other day, so our guys will get understanding of the surroundings.”
Dayton has four players averaging double-figure points, led by 6–3 senior guard Enoch Cheeks, who averages 15.0 points and 8.3 rebounds, and has 13 steals and four blocks. The Flyers’ other leaders are 6–8 fifth-year forward Zed Key (12.0 points, seven blocks), 6–7 senior forward Nate Santos (11.2 points, 6.2 rebounds) and 6–0 redshirt junior guard Malachi Smith (10.0 points and a team-high 28 assists.)
“They’re a physical team [with] terrific guard play,” Davis said. “They’ll pick up full-court pressure — especially on a dead ball, full-court situations — trying to create turnovers. They try to dictate and decide how efficient you are on the offensive end. And so, we can’t let that happen.”
NOTES — Each coach teamed with an area child in a free-throw shooting contest that UConn coach Danny Hurley won. Davis and LeeAnn Tolentino, an eighth-grader at Lokelani Intermediate School, finished tied for fifth. … Asked about the Zayden High situation, Davis said there was no update. … Carolina leads the country in turnover percentage at 10.5% and is fifth in offensive efficiency (120.0) but is 171st in offensive rebounding percentage at 30.5%. … UNC is 22–4 in the Maui Invitational and 18–3 in Maui, with championships in 1999, 2004, 2008 and 2016, winning the national championship after the latter three titles. … The Flyers, who lost an exhibition game 98–74 to Xavier, have beaten Saint Francis 87–57, Northwestern 71–66, Ball State 77–69, Capital 76–55 and New Mexico State 74–33. … Dayton is No. 37 in KenPom, better than 14 ACC schools, only behind Duke (No. 4), UNC (No. 11), Pittsburgh (No. 13) and Clemson (No. 36). … Dayton has won two of three meetings, including 79–68 in the 2010 NIT final. UNC’s only win was when the No. 2 Tar Heels won 81–51 on Dec. 31, 2006. … Konoa Leahey and Cory Alexander will be on the ESPN2 call. … Jones Angell will call the three Maui games on the Tar Heel Sports Network with Adam Lucas as the analyst.
UNC season statistics
Dayton season statistics
KenPom comparison
| Category | UNC | Dayton |
| Overall ranking | 11 | 37 |
| Offensive efficiency | 120.0 (5) | 112.9 (47) |
| Defensive efficiency | 96.5 (40) | 95.9 (31) |
| Effective FG% | 53.9 (94) | 54.7 (75) |
| Turnover % | 10.5 (1) | 13.3 (25) |
| Offensive rebound % | 30.5 (171) | 29.6 (189) |
| FTA/FGA | 44.66 (46) | 43.1 (56) |
| Strength of schedule | 138 | 314 |
UNC in Maui Inviational
Maui Invitational
Lahaina Civic Center | Lahiana, Hawaii
All times ET
Monday’s first round
Memphis (4–0) vs. No. 2 UConn (4–0), 2:30, ESPN2
Colorado (4–0) vs. Michigan State (4–1), 5 p.m., ESPN2
No. 4 Auburn (4–0) vs. No. 5 Iowa State (3–0), 9 p.m., ESPNU
No. 10 UNC (2–1) vs. Dayton (5–0), 11:30, ESPN2
Tuesday’s games
Semifinals
Memphis-UConn winner vs. Colorado-Michigan State winner, 6 p.m., ESPN
Auburn-Iowa State winner vs. UNC-Dayton winner, 11:30 ESPN2
Consolation bracket
Memphis-UConn loser vs. Colorado-Michigan State loser, 3:30, ESPN2
Auburn-Iowa State loser vs. UNC-Dayton loser, 8:30, ESPNU
Wednesday’s games
Championship, 5 p.m., ESPN
Third-place game, 9:30, ESPN2
Fifth-place game, 2:30, ESPN2
Seventh-place game, midnight, ESPN2
| Date | Month/day | Time/ score | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 15 | Tuesday | W, 84–76 | at Memphis | Exhibition |
| 27 | Sunday | W, 127–63 | vs. Johnson C. Smith | Exhibition |
| November | ||||
| 4 | Monday | W, 90–76 | vs. Elon | 1–0 |
| 8 | Friday | L, 92–89 | at No. 1 Kansas | 1–1 |
| 15 | Friday | W, 107–55 | vs. American | 2–1 |
| 22 | Friday | W, 85–69 | at Hawai’i | 3–1 |
| Maui Invitational | ||||
| 25 | Monday | 11:30 p.m. ET | Dayton | ESPN2 |
| 26 | Tuesday | 8:30 or 11 ET | No. 4 Auburn or No. 5 Iowa State | ESPN or ESPNU |
| 27 | Wednesday | 2:30 ET, 5 p.m., 9:30 or midnight | Memphis, No. 2 UConn, Colorado or Michigan State | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 4 | Wednesday | 7:15 | vs. No. 8 Alabama | ESPN |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | vs. Georgia Tech | ACCN |
| 14 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | vs. LaSalle | The CW |
| Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
| 17 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | Florida | ESPN |
| CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden | ||||
| 21 | Saturday | 3 p.m. | UCLA | CBS |
| ————————— | ||||
| 29 | Sunday | 8 p.m. | vs. Campbell | ACCN |
| January | ||||
| 1 | Wednesday | TBA | at Louisville | ACCN |
| 4 | Saturday | Noon | at Notre Dame | CBS |
| 7 | Tuesday | 9 p.m. | vs. SMU | ACCN |
| 11 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | at N.C. State | ACCN |
| 15 | Wednesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Cal | ACCN |
| 18 | Saturday | 2:15 | vs. Stanford | The CW |
| 21 | Tuesday | 9 p.m. | at Wake Forest | ESPN |
| 25 | Saturday | 2:15 p.m. | vs. Boston College | The W |
| 28 | Tuesday | 9 p.m. | at Pittsburgh | ESPN |
| February | ||||
| 1 | Saturday | 6:30 p.m. | at No. 12 Duke | ESPN |
| 8 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | vs. Pittsburgh | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 10 | Monday | 7 p.m. | at Clemson | ESPN |
| 15 | Saturday | 6 p.m. | at Syracuse | ESPN |
| 19 | Wednesday | 7 p.m. | vs. N.C. State | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 22 | Saturday | 4 p.m. | vs. Virginia | ESPN |
| 24 | Monday | 7 p.m. | at Florida State | ESPN |
| March | ||||
| 1 | Saturday | Noon | vs. Miami | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 4 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at Virginia Tech | ESPN, ESPN2 orESPNU |
| 8 | Saturday | 6:30 | vs. No. 12 Duke | ESPN |
| 11– 15 | Tues.–Sat. | ACC tournament Spectum Center, Charlotte |
Photos via @MauiInv
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