Hubert Davis says North Carolina did not have enough discipline to beat Virginia

A lot went wrong for North Carolina on Tuesday as they picked up their sixth loss of the season and third in conference play during a road defeat against No. 13 Virginia. You could have pointed to several things that cost the Tar Heels in Charlottesville. Still, as a whole, Hubert Davis says all those things add up to one far more concerning issue that’s overarching.

Davis spoke in length during his postgame press conference about what UNC didn’t do, particularly in the second half. To start, he applauded the Cavalier’s defense while also knocking his own offense for not consistently getting good looks or making them later in the game.

“I think, for one, you have to credit Virginia. They’re a very good defensive team. But I mean we had some open looks. We just didn’t make them,” said Davis. “One of the things that gets Virginia is once you’re able to create an open shot? You’ve got to be able to take it and you’ve got to be able to hit it. In the first half, I though we were able to do that somewhat consistently. In the second half, we just didn’t.”

North Carolina took a two-point lead into halftime after leading by as much as nine in the first frame. From there, though, Virginia flipped it and took as much as a 10-point lead with just over nine minutes to go that they would never again relinquish.

With the game essentially remaining between single digits, Davis pointed to several stats as reasons why things didn’t go in the Tar Heel’s favor. To mention a few, he looked at turnovers (13), fastbreak points from those turnovers (10), offensive rebounds (six), and, in turn, second-half points for Virginia (38). Overall, though, Davis’ biggest concern is that all these mistakes add up to a lack of discipline for his team which, in the end, he says cost his team this kind of game.

“We turned the ball over and, when we turned the ball over, it was pick-sixes. It was offensive rebounds we didn’t box out. Dribble drive and we didn’t come in and help or get loose balls,” said Davis.

“The discipline in detail you have to have to win games like this and win on the road? We just didn’t have,” Davis said. “And when you don’t have that? You get this type of result.”