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North Carolina

Hubert Davis, Armando Bacot reveal if UNC can learn anything from ACC Tournament loss

IMG_6598by:Nick Kosko•03/18/24•

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Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Hubert Davis and Armando Bacot didn’t want to learn anything following UNC’s loss to NC State in the ACC Championship.

The UNC pairing will lead a No. 1 seeded Tar Heels team in the NCAA Tournament with a bitter taste in their mouths. Sure, there’s no ACC title, but it could be fuel for March Madness.

As Bacot put it, the script is in front of them (no not literally) and the formula for a national title run is available.

“There’s really nothing to learn,” Bacot said postgame. “We know what we need to do, and as long as we get back to the game plans and what the coaches have told us to do, we’ll be fine.”

Davis echoed those same comments. The UNC coach preached the fundamentals.

“I don’t know if there’s anything that we can learn,” Davis said. “I’ve said it before, for us to be the best that we can be, especially in games like this, you’re just going to have to defend, rebound and take care of the basketball.

“We’ll go back to work when we get back home and prepare and practice, and wherever they send us and whomever we play, we’ll be prepared to be the best that we can be when we get out there on the floor next week.”

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North Carolina losing to NC State wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. Davis simply said the Wolfpack outplayed his Tar Heels.

“No. I mean, we just couldn’t guard them tonight,” Davis said. “They shot was it 54 percent, 55 percent from the field? That’s just not going to get it done. In regards to us, we’ve talked about all year that it starts with defense and rebounding and taking care of the basketball, and the first thing that I always mention is defense. For us and statistically throughout the ACC, we’ve been No. 1 in terms of all the metrics defensively. Allowing a team, any team to shoot 55 percent for a game, that’s just not going to work.

“It’s a credit that we stayed in the game, but we just didn’t — from a defensive standpoint, we weren’t able to guard them one-on-one, whether it was on the post, isolations out on the wing. Didn’t play the type of defense that you have to have in order to win games like this.”

North Carolina earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and the Tar Heels will play the winner of Howard and Wagner in the first round.