Hubert Davis sees improvement from North Carolina during home-stand

North Carolina is back on track after its four-game losing streak. Going undefeated in its recent home-stand, Tar Heels head coach Hubert Davis commented on his team’s upward trend after a tough Thanksgiving stretch.

“Obviously, it’s not a finished product, but we have improved. I mean, in the week and a half that we’ve been [playing at home], we’re playing better defense, we’re rebounding better,” Davis said after The Citadel win Tuesday night. “We had 24 assists, so we’re making an extra pass. We’re shooting better. And so, does that mean that we’re exactly where we need to be? No. But I feel like that we’re moving in the right direction.

“And it’s a great opportunity to play against a really, really good Ohio State team in New York City this Saturday, and we’re excited about the challenge.”

That “week and a half” only covered two games between Saturday and Tuesday after a short six-day break in their schedule after dropping four consecutive games. The Tar Heels went from being the No. 1-ranked team to dropping out of the rankings entirely during that span, but the two-game home-stand might have been exactly what the team needed moving forward this season.

Not only did Carolina earn a 33-point victory over The Citadel, the Tar Heels also notched its first ACC victory of the season, downing Georgia Tech 75-59 Saturday afternoon. Armando Bacot and RJ Davis combined for 43 points and 23 rebounds in the dominating win.

A win over No. 23 Ohio State Saturday at Madison Square Garden would put UNC right back on the right track, and give the Heels even more momentum before playing Michigan the following Wednesday ahead of conference play.

Tip-off is set for Dec. 17 at 3 p.m. ET live on CBS. The Buckeyes will come into the matchup having won four of their last five.