By R.L. Bynum

CHARLOTTE — Hubert Davis was all smiles in Charlotte a day ahead of the Jumpman Invitational matchup, and he suggested that the Tar Heels are emerging from the rough patch that shook their confidence.

Now, it’s a matter of whether UNC’s progress in the win over La Salle and practice since then can translate to the Spectrum Center floor at 7 p.m. Tuesday when the Heels take on No. 7 Florida (ESPN), which is off to a 10–0 start.

“The last two days of practice have been the best practices all year. It’s the first time all year,” Davis said in a hallway at the JW Marriott in uptown Charlotte, where all eight teams are staying. “I went home, and I was like, ‘Wow, we’re getting better. We’re improving.’ And I was just really encouraged by our game on Saturday, but also by the last two days of practice.”

Davis said that his team’s demeanor in practice has been very different than it was in the loss to Auburn. In the aftermath, players admitted they just needed to relax and play and not stress so much. Davis said the two good practices were probably a direct result of getting in a “good spot” mentally.

Davis has repeatedly said that Carolina needs to maintain a certain level of play to be successful, and he’s seen in stretches but not consistently.

“I felt like the last two days of practice we started, and we stayed there,” Davis said. “We’ll see if we can translate that [Tuesday] night against Florida.”

Hitting the boards will be particularly important against the Gators, who, with their impressive size and length, are among the country’s best teams at producing second-chance points.

“Can we limit them to one shot every possession, be able to rebound the basketball? The way we transition from defense to offense, if we can rebound the basketball, it’s going to put us in a situation where we’ve been really effective in transition offensively,” Davis said.

Here’s what Davis had to say on other topics:

— On whether Vanderbilt transfer center Ven-Allen Lubin has solidified a starting spot:

“Ven has been getting more comfortable and better in terms of running the floor, finishing around the basket, rebounding, defending. He can defend guards out on the perimeter and bigs around the post. But in regards to the starting lineup, that’s just who starts. I’ve started different guys in the second half and tried different rotations. Starters don’t mean anything to me, but Ven is an important piece to this team, and I’m glad that he’s here.”

— On Bill Belichick becoming UNC’s football coach:
“I got to meet him after practice [Sunday]. What an honor and a blessing to be able to meet him and just be able to spend some time with him. And obviously our university is really excited about him becoming our head coach. And obviously, his resume speaks for itself and what he can bring to a program, and what he can bring to our university.

“We’re really excited about it, but also, I’m a great friend of Coach Mack Brown. He was our head coach when I was in school. I spent time with him when he was the head coach at Texas, when I was playing for the Dallas Mavericks, and it was an honor and a blessing to work alongside him as head coaches while he was a head coach at North Carolina as well. I’m a fan of both of them.”

— On the challenges of facing Florida:
“They’ve got some good guards, too. They can shoot the ball from three. Our pace is faster, but their pace is pretty good from an offensive standpoint. They can score; they’re dynamic. They have the ability to score close to the basket in the post as well, and so it’ll be a challenge for us. But we’re a pretty good team as well, and look forward to the challenge of playing Florida.”

— On the physicality that Ty Claude brings to games:

“He brings energy, effort, enthusiasm, will and want to and toughness, not just in the games, but always in practice. And he has a burning desire to be out there on the floor. He’s somebody that doesn’t shy away from contact, actually seeks it out, and that’s something I think desperately our team needs, is that type of physicality, that type of aggressiveness, especially rebounding and finishing around the basket, that he brings.”

NOTES — UNC is 2–0 in the Jumpman Invitational after beating Michigan 80–76 in 2022 and Oklahoma 81–69 in 2023. … This is the second consecutive Jumpman that UNC’s opponent is undefeated and No. 7-ranked. The Sooners were 10–0 entering the game. … This is the second time in program history that UNC has played four top-10 teams before New Year’s Day, previously facing this season (rank at the time of the game) No. 1 Kansas, No. 4 Auburn and No. 10 Alabama. In 1967, Carolina lost to No. 8 Vanderbilt but beat No. 4 Kentucky, No. 7 Utah and No. 10 Princeton. … UNC leads the series with Florida 4–2, with the last meeting a 75–64 win under Coach Roy Williams at the 2014 Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.

UNC season statistics

Florida season statistics

KenPom comparison

Category	UNC	Florida
Overall ranking	28	7
Offensive efficiency	118.1 (21)	122.3 (7)
Defensive efficiency	97.9 (38)	96.1 (22)
Effective FG%	53.0 (103)	54.8 (55)
Turnover %	14.3 (28)	14.5 (36)
Offensive rebound %	28.4 (226)	40.2 (10)
FTA/FGA	38.8 (68)	31.3 (221)
Strength of schedule	11	161

Series: UNC 4, Florida 2

Team	League	Overall	NET*
No. 3 Duke	0–0	11–0	2
California	0–0	10–1	63
No. 12 North Carolina	0–0	10–1	15
No. 23 Virginia	0–0	9–1	21
Miami	0–0	10–2	33
Virginia Tech	0–0	10–2	58
No. 11 Louisville	0–0	9–2	17
SMU	0–0	9–2	43
Stanford	0–0	8–2	98
Clemson	0–0	9–3	32
Notre Dame	0–0	9–3	65
Wake Forest	0–0	9–3	59
N.C. State	0–0	8–4	34
Georgia Tech	0–0	7–4	189
Syracuse	0–0	7–4	96
Pittsburgh	0–0	6–6	154
Boston College	0–0	5–6	177
Florida State	0–0	5–6	148

* — Through Wednesday games
Tuesday’s results
No. 12 North Carolina 77, East Tennessee State 58
No. 3 Duke 97, Lipscomb 73
No. 20 Tennessee 83, No. 11 Louisville 62
Dayton 97, Florida State 69
Clemson 68, South Carolina 61
Miami 98, Florida International 81
Georgia Tech 87, Marist 76
Wednesday’s results
N.C. State 108, Texas Southern 72
Pittsburgh 103, Binghamton 6
Syracuse 76, Mercyhurst 62
Wake Forest 71, Longwood 68
UT Arlington at Stanford, 10 p.m., ACCN Extra
Friday’s games
Mississippi Valley State at Florida State, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Morgan State at California, 10 p.m., ACCN Extra
Saturday’s games
Montana at No. 11 Louisville, noon, ACCN Extra
Lafayette at Georgia Tech, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Elon at Virginia Tech, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Ohio State vs. No. 12 North Carolina at CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta, 3 p.m., CBS
Northeastern at Syracuse, 4 p.m., ACCN Extra
Maryland at No. 23 Virginia, 6 p.m., ESPN
No. 3 Duke at No. 16 Texas Tech, 8 p.m., ESPN
Stanford at Colorado, 8 p.m., ESPNU
Sunday’s games
Penn State vs. Pittsburgh in Hershey, Pa., noon, Big Ten Network
Ole Miss vs. N.C. State in Greensboro, 1 p.m., ESPN
No. 13 Vanderbilt at Wake Forest, 1 p.m., The CW
Purdue Ft. Wayne at Notre Dame, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Central Arkansas at SMU, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Cincinnati vs. Clemson in Greenville, S.C., 3 p.m., ESPN
North Florida at Miami, 4 p.m., ACC Network
Columbia at California, 5 p.m., ACCN Extra
Monday’s games
American at Virginia, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Jacksonville at Florida State, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Stonehill at Syracuse, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Fairleigh Dickinson at Boston College, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
East Carolina at No. 12 North Carolina, 8 p.m., ACC Network

Date	Month/day	Time	Opponent/event (current ranks)	TV/ record
	October
24	Friday	L, 78–76	vs. No. 10 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. 17 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. 9 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. East Tennessee State	10–1
			CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta
20	Saturday	3 p.m.	vs. Ohio State	CBS
			—————————
22	Monday	8 p.m.	vs. East Carolina	ACCN
30	Tuesday	7 p.m.	vs. Florida State	ESPN2
	January
3	Saturday	2:15	at SMU	The CW
10	Saturday	6 p.m.	vs. Wake Forest	ACCN
14	Wednesday	9 p.m.	at Stanford	ACCN
17	Saturday	4 p.m.	at California	ACCN
21	Wednesday	7 p.m.	vs. Notre Dame	ESPN2
24	Saturday	2 or 2:30	at No. 23 Virginia	ESPN or ESPNU
31	Saturday	2 p.m.	at Georgia Tech	ACCN
	February
2	Monday	7 p.m.	vs. Syracuse	ESPN
7	Saturday	6:30	vs. No. 3 Duke	ESPN
10	Tuesday	7 p.m.	at Miami	ESPN or ESPN2
14	Saturday	2 p.m.	vs. Pittsburgh	ESPN
17	Tuesday	7 p.m.	at N.C. State	ESPN or ESPN2
21	Saturday	1 p.m.	at Syracuse	ABC
23	Monday	7 p.m.	vs. No. 11 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