Davis stresses accountability as UNC tries to rebound from defensive struggles

By R.L. Bynum

After North Carolina dropped three of its last four games, Coach Hubert Davis emphasized one theme above all: accountability, on both ends of the floor and in every phase of the game.

Davis leaned into the areas he believes have slipped and must be sharpened immediately. When asked how lessons from recent video study failed to carry over against Stanford and in the first half at Cal, Davis pointed to both sides of the ball.

“I think, at times, our offense doesn’t help our defense,” Davis said Monday during the weekly ACC coaches Zoom press conference, citing execution, shot selection and missed free-throw attempts as leading to sequences that often lead to breakdowns in transition.

Davis returned repeatedly to defensive standards. As No. 22 UNC (14–4, 2–3 ACC) prepares for Wednesday’s 7 p.m. home game (ESPN2) against Notre Dame (10–8, 1–4), he said the staff will spend practices revisiting foundational principles.

“The number one thing is we have to be a good defensive team, a good rebounding team,” he said. “[Last week], we didn’t play up to the standard which we needed from a defensive standpoint.”

That has led to troubling opponent numbers in the last four games, with the:
— Highest point totals this season: 97 to SMU, 84 to Wake Forest, 95 to Stanford and 84 to California.
— Top three 3-point shooting percentages: 57.1% by Stanford, 53.8% by Cal and 51.9% by SMU.
— Top four effective field-goal percentages: 71.6% by SMU, 71.4% by Stanford, 62.1% by Cal and 59.4% by Wake Forest.

Davis also emphasized that any adjustments being considered are part of ongoing evaluation rather than a dramatic overhaul. When asked what changes were coming after the rough stretch, Davis clarified that more changes were possible.

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“Obviously, we want to be the best defensive team possible,” he said. “And so just always taking a hard look whether, and it’s no different than after wins. Always looking to improve, always looking to get better as a team.”

Accountability extends to late-game execution as well. When questions arose about shot selection in crunch time during the Cal loss, Davis acknowledged the inconsistency was throughout the game rather than isolated to the final possessions.

“There are times, from an offensive standpoint, that our shot selection isn’t great, our execution isn’t great, and obviously we struggle with free throws at times,” he said.

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Davis noted that UNC’s comeback push at Cal faltered because “we just didn’t make the shots that we needed to make and get the defensive stops that we needed to be able to catch back up and take the lead.”

Davis also dismissed the notion that travel or different time zones contributed to the team dropping both games on the trip, saying it “had no effect on the way that we played last week.

“The reason that we lost is we didn’t play well, and Stanford and Cal did,” he said.

Davis repeatedly returned to the idea that urgency must originate from within the team and extend through every possession. Asked whether more pressure defense could manufacture that urgency, he said the mindset shouldn’t depend on scheme.

“I think a sense of urgency should be there all the time, when you get an opportunity to be out there on the floor,” he said. “[You] have a chance to compete, that should trigger the sense of urgency.”

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Team	League	Overall	NET*	WAB*
No. 1 Duke	17–1	29–2	1	2
No. 10 Virginia	15–3	27–4	13	11
Miami	13–5	24–7	32	28
No. 19 North Carolina	12–6	24–7	23	19
Clemson	12–6	22–9	36	33
No. 24 Louisville	11–7	22–9	14	25
N.C. State	10–8	19–12	35	45
Florida State	10–8	17–14	69	74
California	9–9	21–10	65	49
Stanford	9–9	20–11	59	51
SMU	8–10	19–12	39	50
Virginia Tech	8–10	19–12	53	52
Wake Forest	7–11	16–15	64	81
Syracuse	6–12	15–16	83	92
Pittsburgh	5–13	12–19	109	146
Notre Dame	4–14	13–18	93	121
Boston College	4–14	11–20	159	217
Georgia Tech	2–16	11–20	167	210

* — Through Sunday games
Saturday’s results
No. 1 Duke 76, No. 19 North Carolina 61
Boston College 77, Notre Dame 69
Clemson 79, Georgia Tech 76
No. 24 Louisville 92, Miami 89
Florida State 92, SMU 78
Stanford 85, N.C. State 84
Wake Forest 80, California 73
Pittsburgh 71, Syracuse 69, OT
END OF REGULAR SEASON
ACC tournament
Spectrum Center | Charlotte
Tuesday through Saturday

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Date	Month/day	Scores	Opponent/event (current ranks)	Record
	October
24	Friday	L, 78–76	vs. 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. 11 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. 9 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. 1 Duke	19–4, 7–3
10	Tuesday	L, 75–66	at No. 25 Miami	19–5, 7–4
14	Saturday	W, 79–65	vs. Pittsburgh	20–5, 8–4
17	Tuesday	L, 82–58	at N.C. State	20–6, 8–5
21	Saturday	W, 77–64	at Syracuse	21–6, 9–5
23	Monday	W, 77–74	vs. Louisville	22–6, 10–5
28	Saturday	W, 89–82	vs. Virginia Tech	23–6, 11–5
	March
3	Tuesday	W, 67–63	vs. Clemson	24–6, 12–5
7	Saturday	L, 76–61	at No. 1 Duke	24–7, 12–6
10–14	Tues.-Sat.	ACC tournament	Spectrum Center, Charlotte
12	Thursday	L, 80–79	Quarterfinals: vs. Clemson	24–8
		NCAA tournament
19	Thursday	L, 82–78, OT	First round: vs. VCU in Greenville, S.C.	24–9

Photo via @CalMBBall