Hubert Davis on North Carolina's first half vs. Ole Miss: 'I haven't seen this team since Clemson'

Heading into their NCAA Tournament game against Ole Miss, the North Carolina Tar Heels knew they’d have their hands full. Even with that, however, head coach Hubert Davis saw his team struggle early in the game.

In the first half of their loss, the Tar Heels went down 44-26 for an 18-point difference through 20 minutes. It was an effort that Davis hadn’t seen from his team recently. In fact, it’s been their ability to avoid performances like that, which helped North Carolina to even make it to the NCAA Tournament.

“They brought the physical competitive fight in the first half,” Hubert Davis said. “Every category, every angle, in regards to physicality, they not only won in the first half, they dominated us. There was only two choices coming out in the second half, either to respond with that same type of fight or get embarrassed, and I was really proud of how our guys fought back competitively and got back into the game. But just the whole game, that wasn’t us the last two months. That was us the first four months, and I told them that at halftime. I said, ‘I haven’t seen this team since Clemson.'”

North Carolina has struggled at times this season. However, the game against Clemson that Davis referenced came back in early February and saw the Tar Heels lose by 20 points. After that, North Carolina went on a six-game winning streak that seemed to turn their season around. During that stretch, the Tar Heels didn’t have a half of basketball, even in a pair of later losses to Duke, where they struggled like they did against Ole Miss.

In the second half, Davis did see the better version of his North Carolina team play and nearly come from behind. They actually outscored Ole Miss 38-27 that half in a much improved defensive effort. However, it wasn’t enough and the Tar Heels season ended in the Round of 64.

“Against good teams like Ole Miss, it’s just not sustainable. I’ve said this to you guys before. Coming back from 18, coming back from 22,” Davis said. “That’s just — so it’s a credit to our guys to get to a two-point game. Just hard, too hard, to flip it against good teams.”

One thing that is clear is that Ole Miss was always going to be a major test for North Carolina. Now in the Sweet Sixteen, Ole Miss has been phenomenal and poses a similar threat to everyone who they play.