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UNC's RJ Davis, Ven-Allen Lubin, Drake Powell and Ian Jackson after loss to Duke #UNC
Mar 9, 2025
UNC's RJ Davis, Ven-Allen Lubin, Drake Powell and Ian Jackson after loss to Duke #UNC
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0:00
Center just what are you feeling right
0:02
now
0:07
um Drake been out obviously you know
0:11
hurt you obviously not winning the the
0:13
game on my last you know time playing on
0:15
this floor so uh I definitely just you
0:19
know a lot of thoughts going through my
0:21
head right now but best way to play is
0:23
like HT right
0:25
now how do you kind of make sense of you
0:27
know throwing such a tough punch in this
0:29
game playing such tough defense and
0:30
still losing by double digits yeah I
0:33
mean I think that's just the game of
0:35
basketball right there I mean I think we
0:36
did a good job of kind of just um
0:39
battling throughout the whole game and
0:42
um it just wasn't enough in the second
0:43
half I think they got a lot of
0:45
transition buckets um let some guys
0:48
shoot open threes and um we just
0:50
couldn't convert when needed on the
0:52
offensive end what you deal with
0:53
cramping or anything yeah I cramped a
0:55
little bit in the second half I say like
0:57
the beginning of the second um
1:00
lot of memories floating in your head
1:01
right now probably or when will this hit
1:03
hit you that this was it for you here I
1:05
mean it hit me this morning like when I
1:07
woke up like like this is the last time
1:08
I'll be playing on this floor and then
1:10
just watching just like the senior video
1:12
kind of just hit home a little bit and
1:15
then uh you know running out the The
1:18
Tunnel right before we did like the the
1:21
honory of the seniors you know senior Bo
1:24
just talking for a little bit that's it
1:26
just show it was like a full circle
1:27
moment cuz that's you know he was my
1:29
first coach here as a as a freshman and
1:31
then HD recruited me here and he's now
1:32
the head coach here so it was kind of
1:34
like a full circle moment right there
1:35
what are the emotions during the first
1:36
half when you were hitting the threes
1:38
and you were making the run the crowd
1:39
was going crazy yeah I mean just like I
1:43
mean this like what you you live for
1:44
right you prepar for these type of
1:46
moments to prepare for these type of
1:47
games and to for me to come out in the
1:49
first half and just you know just you
1:51
know have a great first half of shooting
1:52
the basketball hitting threes that I
1:54
know I can make um it was like something
1:56
it was something I envisioned in my head
1:58
and you know I just was able to come
2:00
just go out there and justplay it there
2:01
there's more basketball ahead of you I
2:02
mean what what what's your thoughts
2:03
right now what does this team have to do
2:05
to get to where you want it to get to I
2:07
mean it sucks to lose uh and obviously
2:09
it sucks to lose like especially your
2:11
last game um for regular season but the
2:14
good thing about is we still got more
2:15
basketball to play got H tournament uh
2:18
we played Wednesday um so I mean that's
2:21
just how you got to look at it obviously
2:23
it sucks right now you got to deal with
2:25
it deal with the emotions deal with you
2:26
know what could have went right what
2:28
could have went wrong and uh
2:30
gotta learn to you know flip the page a
2:32
little bit uh look at the film and then
2:35
you know be ready for Wednesday um
2:36
because we got you know four games and
2:37
four days so yeah RJ I know there's a
2:39
lot of talk of this team being on the
2:41
NCAA tournament bugle I mean just what's
2:43
the mindset getting ready for the ACC
2:44
Tournament down to tr one game at a time
2:47
I think that was our our approach as we
2:48
were on the winning Street um just one
2:51
game at a time and understanding that
2:53
just each game matters we can make some
2:55
noise in AC tournament and I think
2:57
that's the right right approach right
2:58
mindset to have uh this team is fully
3:01
capable of making an NCAA tournament and
3:03
you know going far in it so that's like
3:05
my full belief and I have faith in this
3:07
team so I mean we're not going to hold
3:09
our heads down uh going into the
3:12
tournament it's more about keeping our
3:13
head up high and uh moving with
3:15
positivity you think you think the team
3:17
showed that the six game win streak was
3:19
not just a fluke against last year
3:21
competition that what you did against
3:23
Duke verified that this team has changed
3:26
yeah I mean I said before that we're a
3:28
different team than we were uh uh you
3:30
know a month ago I think the way we we
3:33
compete the way we battle the way we
3:35
play defense and share the basketball is
3:37
way different than the team that you saw
3:39
early on in February so um Ian that's
3:42
just who we are I mean obviously it took
3:44
a little bit of a while to to get to
3:45
that point but I mean that just shows
3:47
you the type of team that we're capable
3:50
of they never wavered at all you know
3:53
that's just the great part about him as
3:55
our coach you know he always had strong
3:57
belief in us and he show love to us
3:58
every single day just to know that we
4:00
got to keep our head up and just know
4:02
the season ain't over you know we
4:03
definitely have uh you know another
4:05
opportunity in Charlotte just to get us
4:07
going too V how do you take this as like
4:09
a building block something to learn from
4:10
but also kind of get your mind right
4:12
just to start playing on on Wednesday or
4:14
is it yeah Wednesday yeah I mean we just
4:17
uh we just got to just get mentally
4:19
mentally prepared you know just trying
4:20
to take tomorrow maybe to rest just
4:22
trying to process everything um and just
4:25
to know that we got to shake this shake
4:27
tonight off just to you know to keep our
4:29
focus on on uh on Wednesday you know so
4:31
I think it's a biggest thing for us to
4:33
just take as a learning experience a
4:35
learning curve and see what we can build
4:36
off of it just so we can be ready for
4:38
one game but as competitive as you you
4:40
guys were against the number two team
4:41
you think it just showed that you're a
4:43
different team than before the six game
4:44
win streak and how are you different
4:47
yeah I think that we showed a lot of
4:48
toughness you know both end of the floor
4:50
you know we didn't let their their size
4:52
uh intimidate us you know we try to get
4:54
what we want and know the defensive we
4:56
show that we can we can be the tougher
4:58
team too you know and um
5:00
uh just you know that we can show that
5:01
type of physicality that type of
5:03
toughness and the type of energy plays
5:04
that we make on both on both ends of the
5:06
floor you know it just shows that we
5:07
continue to grow and build from where we
5:09
were before was there anything that Duke
5:11
did defensively differently like down
5:12
the stretch when you know the offense
5:14
dried up a little bit like those final
5:15
10 minutes or
5:16
so um I can't really say I think it was
5:20
just you know transition you know the
5:21
guy on transition when you know we
5:23
didn't take care of the ball you know we
5:25
didn't make the shot you know they just
5:26
kind of got out and run you know just
5:28
what kind of surprised us a little a
5:29
little bit you know just the way that
5:31
you know they push the ball at the floor
5:32
and just you know got easy baskets off
5:33
of that you know I think that's what
5:35
kind of happened and you know kind of
5:37
you know exterminate the the lead for us
5:40
was it a feeling of kind of running out
5:41
the gas a little bit after making that
5:42
run to take the the lead at the
5:44
beginning of the second half uh it kind
5:47
of felt like it but you know we just try
5:49
to keep it in our minds you know that we
5:50
got to keep pushing you know we got to
5:52
do whatever it takes in order for us to
5:54
to get the results that we want um so
5:57
whether it was a little bit of fatigue
5:58
or a little frustration or you know our
6:00
body was a little worn out towards the
6:02
end of the game you we know we want to
6:04
push through it this A Team um well if
6:07
we're playing a tournament for a trophy
6:09
high stakes we want to I feel like this
6:11
group has a lot of competitors and we
6:13
want to um we want to do that
6:16
and do you feel it is it is a must to be
6:18
able to get into the the NCA tournament
6:20
I think um I try me personally I try not
6:25
to like focus on that too much I just
6:28
focus on my opponent who in front of me
6:30
and that I want to come out with the win
6:31
every time do do you think by by being
6:34
so competitive against Duke for so long
6:36
that you showed the committee or anybody
6:38
else that this is a different team than
6:40
before the six game win streak and if so
6:42
how are is the team different I think um
6:45
just our overall intensity on the
6:47
defensive end and uh I think that
6:49
carried over to the offense and we
6:50
generated good looks for um so we were
6:53
able to make sure it's one of the
6:54
frustrating things about tonight that
6:56
for stretches you played great you
6:58
poured it all out the energy everything
7:02
and they just kept coming right I mean
7:05
is that one of the frustrating things
7:07
about tonight it is frustrating but
7:09
that's really the the game of basketball
7:11
it's a game of runs and the team that is
7:14
able to withstand Those runs and stay
7:16
together through um adversity that's the
7:19
team that ultimately is going to come
7:20
out
7:24
20
7:27
Orel thank you appreciate you guys man
7:30
we'll see in Charlotte he call it so we
7:32
do
7:32
it I know you know moral victories
7:36
aren't really anything to hang your hat
7:37
on but to you know go toe-to-toe with
7:39
the number two team in the country I
7:40
mean just what does that say about you
7:42
know the state of this team you know
7:43
with march here um I think we're we're a
7:47
lot better you know a lot better um than
7:49
what we was but the first time we played
7:50
them and we only get him better you know
7:54
uh we're growing we're contining to
7:56
growing and we understand where we are
7:58
as a team and you know we feel good
8:01
about ourselves uh obviously tonight we
8:03
didn't win but we feel good about a team
8:05
where we headed and what we displaying
8:07
what we're doing out there do you feel
8:08
confident this team can make a Deep Run
8:10
ACC tournament absolutely 100% 100% I
8:13
still feel like this team could do think
8:16
Bo win you know I feel like we can win
8:17
it all uh I got the utmost faith in
8:20
these guys and in myself to go out there
8:22
and perform and win
8:24
[Music]
8:26
games you off of that I mean just
8:28
expending on that too besides knowing
8:31
that you guys are perfectly capable of
8:33
making a Deep Run in not just ACC
8:35
tournament but NCA tournament what's
8:37
your guys' motivation as you go through
8:40
Charlotte next week and hopefully Come
8:42
Away with the tournament time looking to
8:44
go to win um that's that's I that's
8:46
enough motivation for us as it is you
8:48
know um last year we didn't win it you
8:51
know when we shut up so we gotel chip
8:54
our shoulder to go out there and win it
8:56
and we all won it you know we're hungry
8:58
we're we fired up we looking forward to
9:01
go looking forward and go out there and
9:02
win in the game you
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