By R.L. Bynum
Coming off the sting of the poor performance for most of No. 21 North Carolina’s loss to Clemson in the ACC tournament quarterfinals, Coach Hubert Davis said that the team has been spirited ahead of Thursday’s NCAA tournament opener.
After a team dinner at his house Sunday to watch the bracket revealed, the mood quickly shifted from celebration to motivation, he said Monday night on the “Hubert Davis Live” radio show.
“They were ready to go,” Davis said. “I think if I called practice [Sunday], we would have practiced at my house.”
The jump‑start carried into Monday’s practice as players attacked drills with urgency.
“They were so fired up to get back to work,” he said, and that eagerness set the tone for a week designed to turn frustration from Charlotte into momentum for Greenville, S.C., for Thursday’s 6:50 p.m. first-round game (TNT) against VCU.
“This was our most competitive practice that we’ve had,” he said. “It was really good, really spirited, and it was a really good practice [Monday].”
The message wove accountability with joy. “This is a time to have a smile on your face, to have fun,” Davis said. “I want the guys to play always fast and free.”
Greenville gives UNC a nearby site and a crowd advantage that Davis welcomes.
“It’s no different this year,” he said. “It is nice playing in Greenville, because it’s close to Chapel Hill. We’re hoping that it’s a ton of Carolina fans that are going to come and support these guys.”
He also noted the site’s sentimental value, recalling that the 2017 title run began with two victories at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, the venue for Thursday’s game.
Here is a summary of the topics Davis discussed during the show:
On what went wrong against Clemson, and what sparked the late push
“Obviously, we were disappointed in the way that we played against Clemson,” Davis said. “We just didn’t play well. When you don’t play well … you don’t have to play your best, but you have to play well, and you have to play well consistently.”
As for the rally that trimmed an 18‑point second‑half deficit to one in the final seconds, Davis highlighted three pillars.
“One, we were making shots, I think, two, we were getting stops,” he said. He praised the late-game execution and the decision-making that kept Clemson off the free-throw line while UNC surged.
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The “little things” and Henri Veesaar’s big night
Davis applauded the interior work from his center in Charlotte.
“I love the 17 rebounds,” he said of Veesaar, who posted career highs in points (28) and rebounds.
Davis, though, returned to the details that decide one‑possession games.
“We were 10 of 17 from the free-throw line, and a couple of them were the front end of a one-and-one.”
On the offense and how much freelancing there is
Davis distilled his philosophy into a clear menu when asked how much Carolina uses set plays and how often it’s just freelancing.
“I want one of four things,” he said of UNC’s primary break. “I want a lay-up or dunk, a post catch, get fouled, get to the free-throw line, or a quick open three by our best three-point shooters.”
When that early window closes, Davis said that UNC flows into its structure.
“If we don’t have that, then I want us to get to our specific spots after we’ve run in our specific lanes to be able to go into secondary break,” he said. “We’ve got a number of secondary-break plays and different types of options that we can run out of those plays, depending on the defense, depending on us, through scouting, what we feel like would be good attacking and getting a good early shot.
“If we don’t have that, then we’ll go into our freelance, which we call Bulldog, and it is organized,” Davis said. “It’s structured, but it also gives the guys the spacing and balance, and gives the guys concepts to be able to use out there: moves, cuts, spacing to be able to get great shots. We also have a ton of half-court sets. So, there are times, especially in the second half, where the offense is coming to me, I can slow stuff down and specifically run a half-court set when I feel like it’s better for us.
“So, we have a combination of both. And I always tell the guys I want them to be basketball players. If I call a play and there is a play to made outside of the play, I want themto be basketball players. I don’t want them to be robots. But I give the guys the freedom to be able to use their gifts and talents out there, but there is structure all the time out there on the floor. It’s not just pick-up, and they can do whatever they want to do There’s structure, whether what break we’re in or half-court set.
On the standard now
Depth has carried stretches of UNC’s season, especially since injuries altered the rotation, but Davis is pushing for more across the board.
“At this time of the year, what you’ve done in the past is not good enough; more is required,” he said. “And, so, if you want to go far in the ACC tournament, you want to go far in the NCAA tournament, we’ve got to dig deeper in everything, whether it’s setting screens, making free throws, talking on defense, diving on loose balls, getting through screens, those different types of things. I felt like we competed and played hard, but not enough to be able to advance.”
How he wants his team to approach March
Davis’ message borrows from mentors Dean Smith, Bill Guthridge and Roy Williams: shrink the tournament into manageable pieces.
“One of the things that always talk to the team about is focusing on what is real,” he said. “And what is real is our game against VCU in Greenville.”
“So, I told them that our focus is the Greenville, South Carolina, tournament,” Davis added. “We have an opportunity to play two games, and in our preparation, our practice and our play, let’s do everything that we can to see if we can win two games in Greenville.”
If that happens, he tells his players they will be “invited to the Houston tournament,” then to “the Indianapolis tournament” if they advance again.”
Two wins in Greenville advance UNC to South Regional games in Houston, and two more there would put the Heels in the Final Four in Indianapolis.
VCU scouting report
Davis’ snapshot of the Rams made it clear why UNC expects a high-possession game.
“They’ve got a lot of versatility, athleticism that allows them to play with tremendous pace and do a number of things on both ends of the floor,” he said. “Defensively, they get steals and deflections.
“Offensively, they play fast,” Davis continued. “The length of possession is around 16 seconds, and so they want to play at a fast pace, which we love. From an offensive standpoint, they play a lot of five‑out. They want to get to the paint. Their shot spectrum is layups, threes and free throws.
“They led the Atlantic 10 in free‑throw attempts,” he added, calling “defending without fouling” a top emphasis Thursday. “But they can really shoot the three from all five spots, so they’ll spread us out.”
A coaching point for Bogavac
Davis addressed a listener’s question about Luka Bogavac leaving his feet on drives without a plan, often triggering a turnover.
“It is something that can be corrected,” he said. “It is something that has been talked about at great length.”
The fix begins, Davis said, with fundamentals and finishing plays off two feet in practices and games.
This week’s schedule
UNC practiced Monday and will practice in Chapel Hill on Tuesday before taking the bus ride to Greenville.
“We’ll have two practices on Wednesday,” Davis said. “We’ll have a closed practice, and then we’ll have the public practice at the venue, and we’ll have that on Wednesday, and then we’ll be ready to go for Thursday.”
The Wednesday practice that’s open to the public runs from 2:40 to 3:25 p.m.
South Regional
FIRST FOUR
Wednesday’s game
No. 16 Prairie View A&M 76, No. 16 Lehigh 55
FIRST ROUND
Thursday’s games
Oklahoma City
No. 4 Nebraska 76, No. 13 Troy 47
No. 5 Vanderbilt 78, No. 12 McNeese State 68
Greenville, S.C.
No. 11 VCU 86, No. 6 North Carolina 78, OT
No. 3 Illinois 105, No. 14 Penn 70
Oklahoma City
No. 10 Texas A&M 73, No. 7 St. Mary’s 50
No. 2 Houston 78, No. 15 Idaho 47
Friday’s games
Tampa, Fla.
No. 9 Iowa 67, No. 8 Clemson 61
No. 1 Florida 114, Prairie View A&M 55
SECOND ROUND
Saturday games
Oklahoma City
Nebraska 74, Vanderbilt 72
Greenville, S.C.
Illinois 76, VCU 55
Oklahoma City
Houston 88, Texas A&M 57
Sunday game
Tampa, Fla.
Iowa 73, Florida 72
REGIONAL SEMIFINALS
Houston
Thursday, March 26
Iowa (23–12) vs. Nebraska (28–6)
Illinois (26–8) vs. Houston (30–6)
REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Houston
Saturday, March 28
NCAA bracket
| 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 courtesy of the ACC
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