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UNC's Ven-Allen Lubin, Seth Trimble and RJ Davis after win over Pitt. #UNC
Feb 8, 2025
UNC's Ven-Allen Lubin, Seth Trimble and RJ Davis after win over Pitt. #UNC
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it just felt great you know I think that
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something that coach are emphasizing you
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know for preparation for pit you know
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just to get the big guys involved in the
0:07
offense just be able to for the guys to
0:09
see me and just you know make those
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plays for me you know I think it was
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very huge for us how important is this
0:14
win for you
0:15
guys it's huge you know it's something
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that we can you know get ourselves
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rolling you know especially when we have
0:20
a quick turn around for Monday playing
0:21
Clemson you know just trying to get us
0:23
on the right path and you know just get
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a head straight and move
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forward what was it like all week
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because you all had to Stew on that last
0:30
L week so what
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was those just recovery you know
0:35
recovery of our minds and our bodies you
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know just TR to get you know our mind D
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for you know game like this you know
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going to come out you know with a on day
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as well so we just trying to you know
0:45
just prepare our bodies and our minds
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you know to be able to play as hard as
0:48
we can you think you taking advantage of
0:50
their switching early to get you some
0:51
buckets that how that yeah 100% you know
0:54
I think that's something that you know
0:56
uh you know we try to really you know
0:58
take advantage of whenever they you know
1:00
teams plays like that you know just try
1:01
to look for the big down low with the
1:02
guards on them or for on the guards you
1:04
know just taking on the big man so
1:05
that's something that we found out early
1:06
in the game and you you guys have been
1:07
struggleing the previous two games
1:09
against that had you worked on that a
1:10
lot in practice we sure did this week we
1:12
definitely you know emphasized it we
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worked on it you know all week you know
1:15
just something that we really want to
1:16
you know really exempt from the you know
1:19
moving forward it was it was tight down
1:20
the stretch I mean what was it like
1:21
those last couple seconds of the game
1:23
what was that like out there oh it was
1:25
scary you know cuz you know we've been
1:27
in these situations where it doesn't
1:28
really you know end well with us so we
1:30
just trying to just you know focus in
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just really trying to focus on you know
1:34
not fing you know just trying to get the
1:35
last shot you know for them to get the
1:37
last shot and that make it and just you
1:38
know trying to close it out how much of
1:40
a relief was it to to get you know when
1:42
the ball didn't go in there at end great
1:44
relief it was able to breathe you know I
1:45
could just feel like the whole gym you
1:47
know like even myself just like holding
1:49
our breath you know just cuz the ball's
1:50
in the air just hoping for the ball to
1:52
go in the ho so such a day was able to
1:54
leave ourselves and enjoy this
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one from like a postseason res just from
2:00
a team morale standpoint how much did
2:02
you guys this game oh I mean this is
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huge for us we know we're in the uh this
2:07
is kind of like the do die stage right
2:08
now uh so you know we're not shining
2:10
away from it it's not making us nervous
2:12
but we're embracing it and we're just
2:14
trying to take it one game at a time but
2:16
we knew to to make this run that we got
2:17
to make it starts with today so this is
2:19
huge for us what made V so good today
2:22
everything uh we got him his touches uh
2:25
we didn't adjust during the game last
2:27
week when we played them we didn't
2:28
capitalize off of them putting their
2:30
guards on their bigs but we did that
2:31
today we were practicing that all week
2:33
during practice uh and you know he
2:35
really feasted for me I mean he got out
2:36
right away I think he had like nine
2:39
super early points and from then he was
2:40
just incredible so then was H he was
2:44
incredible what can a win like this do
2:46
guys uh boost on morale boost on morale
2:48
boost our confidence uh you know it's
2:51
been a rough it's been a rough New Year
2:53
it's been a rough 2025 since to since
2:56
since the what am I trying to say since
2:59
the season
3:00
I'm I'm all over we've lost a lot of
3:02
games recently we've lost a lot of games
3:05
and we knew that we were trying to come
3:06
on top in all these games and we were
3:08
trying to do what we need to do uh just
3:09
do the little things to get us out on
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top and it just didn't go our way a few
3:13
of these games but to get this game was
3:15
huge I mean we really needed this and it
3:16
was a huge confidence boost the in the
3:18
fashion you guys wanted too I mean it
3:20
was it was a white knuckler all the way
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down yeah super tough we know these pit
3:25
games uh they're always stuff that's how
3:27
pit plays you know they they make the
3:29
game ugly
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uh but you know we embraced it today and
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it worked out for us Seth you said this
3:34
is the Do or Die type you know situation
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for your team or portion of the schedule
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and you said you're not shying away from
3:40
that what does that look like I guess
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embracing that and knowing how important
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each uh each of these last few games are
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uh I think taking every game with a
3:48
desperate approach taking every game
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with you know if we don't win this game
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we don't get to feed ourselves type of
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thing we win this game we don't get to
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see March you know that type of thing it
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may not be true it may be true I don't
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really know I don't know where we are in
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it but I feel like if that's the
4:02
approach that we can take with it uh it
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just gives us that that that extra
4:06
effort and that extra just that extra
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motivation do you feel in the in the
4:10
last maybe five games or so or even six
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if you count today did you feel that was
4:14
like kind of Weighing on you guys of
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like each game is that more important
4:17
like do you feel that was way more yeah
4:18
definitely definitely whether we lose
4:20
four over last five or three last four
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yeah so every game we lost it was man
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this next game we really really need we
4:27
really really got to get so just to get
4:29
this one was huge you seem like you
4:30
haven't been able to get your shot since
4:32
you came back missing a few but it kind
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of came back today does it it feeling
4:37
good now absolutely absolutely it felt
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really really good today uh I've been
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working working my tail off each and
4:42
every day just to get back in Rhythm to
4:43
get going from three again uh so today
4:45
was a huge step for me the second I shot
4:48
my first one I knew it was good
4:51
those yeah I just felt like this week
4:53
off was really good for us um it was
4:55
huge for our Spirits obviously Los for
4:57
the last five games is hard and um
4:59
especially when it's like you know one
5:01
posession game so I felt like this week
5:02
off was really keen on our Mak sure our
5:04
spirits and our energy was good and I
5:06
think Drake in setad when do for the
5:08
ball kind was a prime example of our
5:10
energy um and just that I want to say
5:12
desperation but just that energy the
5:14
extra effort to get the ball because we
5:15
w win uh just shows how much like um Di
5:19
and we were especially last kind of
5:21
possession of the game um pull out with
5:23
wi how important was it for Luben to
5:26
step up just this whole game yeah I mean
5:28
van play extremely well he was huge for
5:30
us um you know we asked him to do a lot
5:33
but his presence was felt today the way
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he was able to kind of just set the
5:36
screens and then roll out of the pocket
5:37
and finish um it was huge and uh he had
5:41
a lot of great plays towards the end of
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the stretch of the game um where he was
5:45
able to get a another possession after
5:48
misso with his hustle and then just kind
5:50
of just being a force down low um and
5:52
just making it hard for low the fans
5:54
over him so uh V played extremely well
5:56
I'm proud of him what was the
5:57
desperation like in this gate you guys
5:59
the desperation
6:01
um we just wanted to win I mean that's
6:02
just one thing about us and I just felt
6:05
like our energy was just there uh
6:07
sometimes it was a little bit um we was
6:09
in cruise control a little bit in the
6:10
second half but I think we picked it up
6:11
the last two minutes of the game uh just
6:14
just because we didn't want to uh lose
6:15
the game and um the game was In the Arms
6:17
Reach of grabbing and we was able to
6:19
kind of just make the extra plays that
6:20
was needed to win this is a 10th one
6:22
possession game does that make it any
6:23
easier N I just think at this point we
6:25
just like nail biters and so it seems
6:27
like these games they have the ball at
6:29
the end yeah every single time it's like
6:31
we score and then it's like uh now we
6:33
got to play defense to see if they're
6:34
going to make the game win or not got
6:35
someone going in the lane and just crazy
6:37
stuff how did you guys pull this how why
6:40
did leg miss that shot uh just grit and
6:42
um just kind of just making it hard for
6:43
him we played uh 15 just switched on and
6:46
off the ball uh and kind we knew he was
6:49
either going to go to low or leg low was
6:51
at the game out the game at that time so
6:52
they went with is so it's kind of make
6:54
the his you know his last shot um tough
6:57
so they have about 13 seconds left they
6:59
inbound ball in front of their VCH same
7:00
spot BC did two weeks ago you guys made
7:03
the play there then steps up makes it
7:05
here but then there was all that chaos
7:07
what what did you see from that chaos
7:08
and what was that like to be involved in
7:10
all that uh we just couldn't get to grab
7:11
the ball I think um Seth and uh is I
7:15
think they both Dove and I think like is
7:17
like hit his head or it fell in his head
7:19
and Drake had the ball in his hands and
7:22
it slipped out so um that was my point
7:24
of view from it it was chaotic but I
7:26
just think those extra extra plays and
7:28
effort plays right there just kind of
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kind of just summed up the whole
7:31
game like the H in 13 seconds go you
7:35
know one point game again yeah gam on
7:38
the line we was just saying just to get
7:41
a stop like um talk and communicate like
7:44
uh HD was like um we're going to get the
7:47
stop right now um they're not going to
7:48
score and that was our mindset going to
7:50
that last possession with 133 seconds
7:52
left so it's like kind of a do it all
7:53
you had the loose ball then had loose
7:55
ball got to do it again yeah and I was
7:56
trying to tell Seth and uh Drake to get
7:58
up because they have any more timeouts
8:00
left so land on the floor kind of give
8:02
him a little bit time D for play um but
8:05
I love the effort right there cuz you
8:06
know that's what we need from what you
8:08
seen from Ben today is that something
8:11
new for this offense you think for Ben
8:13
um yeah I just think we're just getting
8:15
him more involved in our offense and he
8:16
did a good job of kind of just making
8:17
his presence be felt today um he set
8:20
great screens and then he was able to
8:21
kind of just finish and uh Vin was huge
8:24
for us uh he's part of the reason why we
8:25
won today he was able to kind of just
8:27
make uh plays after plays throughout the
8:29
whole game and definit confidence boost
8:31
for him what it going to take to pull
8:33
this thing out Clemson on Monday night
8:36
um we took care of business tonight and
8:37
I know it's a quick turnar around so we
8:38
just got to recover well uh prep for
8:41
tomorrow and prep for Monday um but you
8:44
know it's another away game against a
8:45
really good team a really good team so
8:47
it's going to take all 40 minutes all 15
8:49
guys to really dial in and be consistent
8:51
throughout the whole game because uh you
8:53
know we got to go on the stretch right
8:54
now yeah I mean you've been down to Clon
8:55
a few times and everything it's always
8:57
kind of tough down there is yeah I mean
8:59
100% I mean they're just a gritty team
9:00
they play uh really well together
9:02
defensively so they're going to make it
9:03
hard so uh we just got to come ready to
9:05
play our game Drake and Seth said you
9:07
guys were not desperate but you played
9:09
like you were desperate and it showed up
9:11
in that last sequence would you agree
9:12
with that how would you characterize the
9:14
level of desperation where you guys are
9:15
at right now I mean I I think our
9:18
desperation level is just more so just
9:20
wanting to win and knowing what's at
9:22
stake for us you know we got maybe what
9:24
eight or seven games left in regular
9:25
season so we trying to make one last
9:27
push and one thing about this team is
9:28
that we're not going to go down fight
9:29
and um I think we're all clear on that
9:32
we have the same message so our mindset
9:34
just to kind of finish a year strong and
9:36
take it one game at a time and that's
9:37
the best way you can look at the
9:38
schedule and then you guys missed two FS
9:40
of one in one seconds you you put
9:42
yourself in situation that have to have
9:44
something really go but and it wa yeah I
9:47
mean I think that's I said I think if we
9:49
just like nail bodies at this point you
9:50
just like to uh feel the pressure and
9:52
just like kind of just let the game go
9:55
back to a game winner so um but I know
9:57
it wasn't intensely um Miss Fritos they
10:00
look good on my end um but you know
10:02
sometimes the B I don't know if um you
10:05
call them a rival but Seth Trimble was
10:07
saying we have a little bit of hatred
10:09
for them given the last how the last few
10:11
years have gone you've been here longer
10:13
than anybody how would you characterize
10:15
the battles you've had with pit the last
10:17
four or five years yeah I mean it's
10:18
always a hardfought game I mean playing
10:20
against them is just uh they're a really
10:22
great team they're gritty um and they're
10:25
going to make the game you know kind of
10:26
difficult for you to kind of just either
10:28
come off ball screens or make it hard
10:29
for you know to catch the ball so um I
10:32
remember just kind of just they got us
10:34
twice my junior year and then um playing
10:36
them last year and then playing them
10:37
again in the ACC tournament last year so
10:39
those games are always down to the wire
10:40
and always you look forward to the type
10:42
of game because it's competitive so I
10:44
would just say it's more of like a
10:45
competitive a highly competitive game
10:47
when we play them when you get um Vin so
10:49
involved in the paint how much pressure
10:50
does that take off of you guys' guards
10:53
um it makes it easier for us you know
10:54
because they're playing two on the ball
10:55
me and EC so we're able to kind of just
10:57
find Vin um and he did a good job of
10:59
kind of just making himself available
11:01
and that was one of the key emphasis
11:02
because we knew pit uh switched one
11:04
through four sometimes even 15 so we
11:06
knew like once they got a guard on Vin
11:08
kind of just like punish him down in the
11:10
paint um and getting him in foul I think
11:12
we did a good job of doing that so we
11:13
got on on that subject the previous two
11:15
games you guys really struggled against
11:17
teams who are switching a lot what what
11:20
changed today because they stopped doing
11:21
it like after the second TV we weren't
11:24
um as stagnant we got the ball movement
11:26
and um our spacing was a lot better I
11:28
think um having this week off kind of
11:31
allowed us to work on that a little bit
11:32
because I felt like sometimes when we
11:33
did have a mismatch our spacing would be
11:35
like everyone was bunched up on top of
11:36
each other so there was no move to no
11:38
room to make a play um so our space was
11:41
a lot better and we was able to kind of
11:42
just make the plays for either ourselves
11:44
or for um one another R.J it seems like
11:46
you were shooting the ball better today
11:48
and same with Seth and it seemed as if
11:50
Elliot was dishing it better to you guys
11:52
um do you attribute that to the week off
11:55
how much did that play into that um I
11:57
think it's just team basketball I think
11:58
that's one thing that we just been
11:59
preaching going from good to great shots
12:01
and I think um I think Prim was that the
12:03
first half I know we missed it Seth
12:05
missed the corner three but um somebody
12:07
drove basine hit Kade and then hit me
12:09
and I drove hit Drake and then hit Seth
12:11
so um that was just like kind of just
12:13
our um our message and our gist like
12:16
throughout the whole week is kind of
12:17
just play team basketball and play
12:18
together um so that's what's been
12:20
working work tonight so we're going to
12:21
keep going so mentioned a little bit of
12:23
hatred between and P at the coaching
12:25
staff down to the players I mentioned
12:27
last year's AC seminal two years ago in
12:29
this Center um how would you describe
12:31
that relationship you guys have some
12:32
close battles and some intense battles
12:33
the past couple years uh I'll would just
12:35
say it's a highly competitive game I
12:36
mean there's no hatred I don't really
12:38
you know have any hatred for any team
12:40
it's just more so I just um go out each
12:44
game is like they're the opponent and I
12:45
don't like them so at the end of the day
12:47
it's another team that's in stop of us
12:48
for trying to win games so they um
12:51
that's how I look at it