RJ Davis expresses disappointment in UNC falling short of winning ACC Tournament

Coming into the season, one of the goals for North Carolina was to win the ACC Tournament. However, that didn’t happen, with veteran players like RJ Davis once again coming up short after the Tar Heels lost to NC State in the conference championship game.

After the loss, head coach Hubert Davis and several key UNC players met with the media. There, RJ Davis explained the disappointment that he was personally feeling after North Carolina fell short of winning the ACC Tournament.

“I mean, definitely disappointed,” RJ Davis said. “Got to the championship game and came up short. Didn’t play our best basketball today. So, I know that was one of our goals going into the season, but we just came up short.”

RJ Davis had a phenomenal game in the loss to NC State, scoring 30 points with six rebounds and five assists. It still wasn’t enough, though, and the Wolfpack pulled away late behind an excellent offensive effort in the second half.

For NC State, it was the program’s first ACC Tournament win since 1987. Back then, the team was coached by Jim Valvano and the Wolfpack were a consistent NCAA Tournament team after winning a national championship in 1983. During NC State’s drought, rival North Carolina won eight ACC Tournaments but with the Tar Heels’ last win coming in 2016, veterans like RJ Davis missed their opportunity to win the first ACC Tournament of their careers.

Now, despite the disappointment, Davis knows that he and his UNC teammates need to turn their attention to the NCAA Tournament.

“But, Coach Davis always talks about our response and how we’re going to respond when we get knocked down,” RJ Davis said. “So, going into March Madness, we’re going to have to prepare, come together as a group, and fix the mistakes that we made tonight.”

Even with the loss, UNC is expected by ESPN’s latest bracketology to be a one-seed.

Hubert Davis shuts down the idea of UNC being complacent in loss to NC State

Following the loss to NC State, Hubert Davis shut down the idea that North Carolina was complacent during the game.

“No, I don’t agree with that. Those are your words. But I think too much is made out of five games in five days. You have a chance to play in this tournament, you have a chance to win a championship. Us growing up, we played three games in one day,” Davis said.

“Getting an opportunity to play at this level in this tournament and for a championship, it doesn’t matter how many overtimes, how many games you play in a row. We knew that they would play with great energy, and they did from the start and throughout the entire game.”