Hubert Davis: North Carolina building identity in the trenches

Hubert Davis knows winning isn’t easy. He’s embracing the challenge. After North Carolina’s 65-55 win over Clemson on Saturday, the UNC head coach revealed his attitude toward the less praised parts of the game.

“One of the things that we talk about for us to be successful is you have to win the battle in the trenches,” Davis said. “That’s the loose balls or rebounds, setting of screens, making free throws. Especially down the stretch, the discipline, the details have to be tight.

“That’s something that we practice, something that we talk about, something that we watch on film, and hold ourselves accountable and things that we want to get better at and be consistent in. I feel like today, we were really good at that.”

North Carolina was relentless in its win over Clemson. The Tar Heels only shot 42% from the field and 35% from beyond the arc in the contest. Nonetheless, they did the little things well, and it saved them.

North Carolina finished the game with more offensive rebounds, bench points and assists than the Tigers. Further, they consistently made plays that don’t show up on the stat sheet. From diving on balls to insane defensive rotations, North Carolina earned its win.

Hubert Davis addressed grueling ACC play

Entering ACC play, Davis knows his team will have to earn every win from here on out.

“All I’ve known since being alive is the ACC, I just feel like it’s the best conference in college basketball and going on the road is just always a battle,” Davis said. “The level in the variety of teams we played in the non-conference I think has helped us in situations like this on true road games to be in tight situations.

“From the standpoint of, in a non-conference, what we faced, there’s not much else we can’t see. We basically saw a lot, almost everything. And so that gives us confidence that we can make plays on both ends of the floor.”

Armando Bacot made plays on both ends of the floor in UNC’s win over Clemson. The veteran center tallied 14 points and 16 rebounds while shooting 6-11 from the floor. Additionally, Bacot recorded two blocks in the victory.

Davis believes Bacot’s sense of urgency represents how his team wants to play.

“When he’s defending and rebounding like he is and staying out of foul trouble, he’s a pretty impactful player,” Davis said. “This is his last year. He doesn’t have another year, this is it. And when you understand that this is it, you have maybe an awareness of wanting to go out the right way. He’s playing with a sense of urgency that I love watching.”