RJ Davis pushes back on idea that North Carolina has lost its fight

The North Carolina Tar Heels dropped another game on Monday night, their third loss in their last four games. That game included a key run by the Clemson Tigers before the end of the first half that seemed to take the fight out of the Tar Heels for the rest of the game.

After the game, star guard RJ Davis was asked if North Carolina had lost its fight, in particular as the Tar Heels seem to have less in the tank later in the season against teams they fall behind early.

“No, I don’t think so,” RJ Davis said. “I just think they were the better team tonight. They were the more hungry team, and they played like they wanted it more than us. I’m not going to sit here and say that we lost our fight, because we did show fight throughout the rest of the game, it just has to be consistently. That’s just the frustrating part about it. We just can’t get over that hump and continue to show that we want it more.”

In the end, North Carolina lost the game to Clemson by 20 points. The Tigers outrebounded, shot for a higher percentage from the floor, had more assists, and were called for fewer fouls in the game. Even more than that, Clemson made 12 of 25 three-point shots, which helped them pull away. For his part, RJ Davis had 18 points to lead the Tar Heels in scoring.

“I think Clemson were just able to get the spots they wanted,” Davis said. “They shared the basketball, they played harder, and that just can’t happen, especially when we’re in the mix of the season where things have to get going for us and make a run.”

Despite how RJ Davis feels, there are real concerns around North Carolina. That extends to head coach Hubert Davis, who following the loss to Clemson was critical about his team’s lack of desperation.

“One of the things that we talked about in the game is,” Hubert Davis said. “And I think it was a question after the game on Saturday, in regards to a sense of urgency, and I said, ‘No, it’s a sense of emergency.’ And that’s the type of mindset that you have to have in your preparation, practice and play every day, and it doesn’t guarantee you that things will work out your way but without it, you have no chance. So, from that standpoint, just sad.”

North Carolina is now 14-11 overall this season and 7-6 in the ACC. That puts them at eighth in the current conference standings. With only about a month left in the regular season, the Tar Heels are going to need to bounce back quickly, starting with Syracuse on Saturday.