Hubert Davis: I love coaching this UNC team

North Carolina lost its 10th game of the season when they lost to Duke on the road over the weekend. With just over a month left in the regular season, the Tar Heels appear to be running out of time to bolster their NCAA Tournament resume.

Despite the ups and downs that have come with this season, UNC head coach Hubert Davis is hopeful his guys can turn it around before the postseason rears its head.

“Obviously, we’re not where we want it to be,” Davis said. “But I go back to — how do you react and how do you respond? And you move forward, you continue to competitively fight, and there’s so much of a season still left to get better and to improve.

“The one encouraging thing for me is that I don’t think we’ve reached our full potential, and that’s out there. I’ve seen how good we can be on both ends of the floor, the consistency is the thing that is needed from this group.”

North Carolina has now lost four of its last five games after beginning ACC play 4-1. Two of those matchups, against Stanford and Wake Forest, respectively, were both one-point losses. Still, the bounce hasn’t seemed to go in UNC’s favor this season, but Davis is confident the Tar Heels can turn it around.

“We have time, and we have the opportunity to move forward to be able to do that, and we’re very thankful for that last one,” Davis continued. “I love this team here. I love coaching this group, and I believe in this team. I think we can be really good.”

They’ll have to turn it around soon, as ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi’s most recent NCAA Tournament projection lists North Carolina as one of the first four out for March Madness, along with UCF, Xavier and Arizona State.

Overall, North Carolina is 1-9 against Quad 1 opponents. They’re 12-1 against all other opponents. Coming up, there aren’t many more opportunities to add wins to that total. As it stands, the Tar Heels have just two more matchups on their regular season schedule against teams of such stature: Feb. 10 at Clemson and March 8 at home in the regular season finale against Duke.

For now, UNC will look toward its next matchup — a Saturday homestand against Pitt. The last time these two teams matched up came on Jan. 28, when the Panthers beat the Tar Heels 73-65 on Pitt’s home court.