Hubert Davis sees different level of energy since ‘sense of emergency’ speech

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi currently has North Carolina outside of the NCAA Tournament. Really since the 20-point loss to Clemson, Hubert Davis has been playing from behind. North Carolina needed big wins but with only one Quad 1 game remaining, near perfection was needed.

Davis felt as if there should be a “sense of emergency” around the program and told his players. Since then, the head coach believes a different level of energy has been around. Not just in the past three games but when North Carolina is practicing as well.

“Our practices from that point on have been different,” Davis said postgame Saturday after North Carolina beat Virginia. “They’ve been feisty, extremely competitive, short-tempered. The competitive fight has been there. Whatever it ends up in terms of what it looks like, I feel like we’re getting better. I’m just really proud of the guys.”

Virginia was the third straight win for UNC and the second in comfortable fashion. These are not the type of wins Davis has seen his team pull out during conference play, finding a few losses and close wins. Playing at the level of a team worthy of making the NCAA Tournament certainly has not been there throughout the season.

Based on the comments from Davis, the energy change has been a welcomed one. But to this point, whether or not the actions pay off is yet to be seen.

Following the Virginia win, Lunardi placed North Carolina in the ‘First Four Out’ category as the second team. Moving up two spots will be required in order to be included in the field of 68 but not too many high-level opportunities remain.

Duke is the lone Quad 1 game left on the schedule. Monday night against Florida State is a Quad 2 chance since they play in Tallahassee but Miami is currently Quad 4 and Virginia Tech Quad 3. That trio of matchups is presumably not really going to be enough to boost North Carolina.

A win against their bitter in-state rivals would go a long way. Some noise in the ACC Tournament can be made too if North Carolina advances far enough to face the likes of Duke or Clemson once again.

If North Carolina falls short of making the NCAA Tournament, he knows it will not be due to a lack of effort. The past three games have Davis believing his team is trending in the right direction at the right time.