Hubert Davis details biggest factor in North Carolina's blowout loss to Duke

North Carolina certainly wasn’t at its best on Saturday night against Duke – there’s no question about it. As the Tar Heels suffered a 87-67 loss to the No. 9 ranked Blue Devils at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, they struggled to play their usual style of basketball and couldn’t overcome Duke’s defensive pressure.

During his postgame press conference following the defeat, North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis was asked what went wrong with the Tar Heels’ offense and why they couldn’t find ways to score.

“Duke’s pressure really bothered us – specifically our guards, our point guards,” Davis said. “Throughout the season at times, teams that have pressured us has really bothered us. Going into the game, one of the things that we talked about was that Duke was going to pressure the ball, they’re going to play in passing lanes and in order to be able to change sides of the floor and run our offense the way we want to, you’re going to have to create space, you’re going to have to make contact to be able to create that space and catch the ball. We weren’t able to to do that.

“Their pressure on the ball bothered us to the point that we couldn’t even get into our offense. It was really their pressure on the ball that made it really difficult for Caleb [Love] and for R.J. [Davis] not only to create shots and to make shots, but also to get us into their offense. I really believe that their pressure was the determining factor that really bothered us on the offensive end.”

Duke’s defensive pressure definitely impacted the Tar Heels’ offense, as they shot just 40.7% from the field and Love (eight points) and Davis (11) combined for only 19 points. North Carolina will try to put together a better offensive outing on Tuesday at Clemson.

Davis gets chippy with reporter over schematic adjustments to Duke’s pressure

Following the game, UNC head coach Hubert Davis was asked about Duke’s pressure – and it let to a strong response to a reporter’s question.

“Well, sometimes guys just play better than other guys. It’s not really an answer to this solution,” Davis said. “If anytime, whether it’s in the park or playing pickup, if somebody pressures you that much, you’re response would be just to go by them and be able to make a play if somebody picks you up that far out. You have to compliment Jeremy Roach, Wendell Moore, and also Trevor Keels.

“Their pressure, their ability defensively to be able to pressure and to be able to contain, really bothered us. To the point even if we were trying to help R.J. (Davis) and Caleb (Love) out with the ball screen to relieve pressure, their pressure and their ability stopped us from even coming off the ball screen. So there are times there isn’t a solution other than tip your hat to a certain player or particular team.”