Hubert Davis on UNC's first half against Miami: 'We just gotta do a better job defensively'

The North Carolina Tar Heels find themselves in a precarious position on Monday night and their home matchup against the Miami Hurricanes. For much of the season, Jim Larranaga Hurricanes have struggled to find consistency and currently sit at 15-13 on the year and are 6-11 in ACC play. However, despite missing two of their star players, Miami has kept the game close and only trails North Carolina by five, 37-32. And that is in large part thanks to the play of Tar Heels guard RJ Davis.

As the two teams headed into the locker room at halftime, the ESPN college game day crew caught up with North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis to get his thoughts on his point guards’ play in the first half. However, after briefly addressing his play, the Tar Heels headman quickly turned his attention to the overall performance of his team in the first period.

“He’s been doing that all year,” said Davis. “But our energy, effort, our will, want to, [and] attention to detail; it’s just gotta pick up. I mean, they’re feeling no resistance from us from three. We just gotta do a better job defensively. That’s where it starts.”

Larranaga reveals Nijel Pack to miss Monday’s ACC clash against North Carolina

As the Miami Hurricanes look for a huge win to get their season back on track against North Carolina on Monday, they’re going to be missing one of their best players once again.

When the Hurricanes take the floor, guard Nijel Pack won’t be with them, as Jim Larranaga revealed he’ll be missing another game on Monday, as he won’t be able to suit up against the Tar Heels in a conference clash.

“Miami’s Nijel Pack (lower body) is OUT for tonight’s game against North Carolina, per Jim Larranaga,” CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Averages 13.7 PPG. Has not played since 2/14.”

After suffering their sixth-straight loss over the weekend, Miami had hoped for Pack to return to the lineup on Monday. As you can see, that won’t be the case, and he’ll be missing another showdown for the Hurricanes.