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Hubert Davis emotional about advancing to Final Four, facing Duke

by:Austin Brezina•03/27/22•

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Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

After advancing to the Final Four as an eight-seed in his first season as North Carolina‘s head coach, Hubert Davis spoke about the experience. The Tar Heels defeated the Cinderella-story St. Peter’s Peacocks 69-49, advancing to the Final Four and setting up a matchup between them and bitter rival Duke.

Hubert Davis on reaching Final Four

While his team celebrated their huge win as a group behind him, Davis was asked what it meant to him to reach the biggest stage of the season in just his first year as coach of the Tar Heels.

“I’m just so happy for them,” said Davis through tears. “I really wanted this for them. I just desperately wanted this for them. And I love these guys so much, they trusted me in my first year. They allowed me to coach them and allowed me to be in their life. I’m here because of them. It has nothing to do about coaching, it’s all them. And it’s just tears of joy being able to be in their lives. The pride not just comes from winning, the pride comes from seeing these smiles and tears of joy. It’s awesome.”

As Davis tried to leave the interview to turn the attention to his players again, he was asked one final question about how it feels to play their rival Duke in the Final Four for the first time in NCAA history.

“I’m not even thinking about that right now,” said Davis. “Right now I’m just so happy for our guys having an opportunity to play in the Final Four.”

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North Carolina jumped out quickly over St. Peter’s with a 9-0 lead before the Peacocks even seemed to get into the game’s pace. After a small scare as the game was competitive for a few minutes, North Carolina blew the game open and never looked back. Even with a six-minute stretch in the second half without a basket, the Tar Heels still led by over 20 points.

The Tar Heels defense and rebounding combined with a dismal shooting performance by St. Peter’s, as they shot under 30 percent from the field. Star forward Armando Bacot finished with an incredible 20 points and 22 rebounds in the win. North Carolina advances to the Final Four for the 21st time in school history — the most all-time.

North Carolina played spoiler for Coach K’s final home game at Duke to end the regular season, building momentum that has carried them to the Final Four as an eight-seed. Their rival will look for revenge as the legendary coach’s career comes down to these final games.