Hubert Davis discusses emotional locker room scene following win at Duke

North Carolina pulled off a big win on Saturday to cap off its regular season – going into Cameron Indoor Stadium and handing its longtime rival Duke a 94-81 loss in Mike Krzyzewski’s final home game as the Blue Devils’ head coach.

The Tar Heels – who finished the regular season with a 23-8 overall record and 15-5 mark in ACC play – put together a strong performance on Saturday in their upset of No. 4 ranked Duke. Although North Carolina trailed by two points at halftime, it outscored the Blue Devils by 15 in the second frame to record the double-digit win.

Following North Carolina’s win, first-year head coach Hubert Davis met with the media for his postgame press conference and discussed how emotional the Tar Heels’ locker room was after the game – also sharing heartfelt moments with both Armando Bacot and Brady Manek.

“I said it’s OK to cry, it’s OK to show emotion,” Davis said. “I’ve always said, ‘If you show emotion, that means you care.’ But Armando came off the court to the locker room and he just started crying on my shoulder. Armando’s been here three years. The first year, we had a losing record. Last year, 18-11 and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by 30 against Wisconsin.

“This is one of the first memories for Armondo, too. And then Brady – what a great moment. He came off the court and gave me a hug, too, but even with like 30 seconds to go, he came over to me on the bench and he said, ‘Thank you, coach.’ And I said, ‘For what?’ And he says, ‘Just think you for giving me this experience. This is why I came here.’

“I said, ‘No, no, no – thank you for coming here. Thank you for deciding to come be a part of this program.’ Those type of moments I’ll remember for the rest of my life. That’s what brings happiness and joy is seeing them happy.”

After its strong finish to the regular season, North Carolina now turns its attention to the ACC Tournament – where it’ll be the No. 3 seed and take on Virginia, Louisville or Georgia Tech in the quarterfinals on Thursday.