The North Carolina Tar Heels got a huge win on Tuesday night, taking down No. 18 Kentucky at Rupp Arena for another Quad 1 victory. With wins over Kansas and Kentucky so far this season, it’s been a good start for Hubert Davis and his staff.
North Carolina still has some tough games left on their schedule, but in previous years, we watched them lose these Quad 1 games early. It’s been a point of emphasis this year with a new-look roster.
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The win moves UNC to 7-1 overall, and next up is a home game against Georgetown in the Dean Dome on Sunday afternoon. But before we get there, let’s see what Hubert Davis had to say after his team’s big win.
All quotes via Inside Carolina.
On what you liked about the minutes Derek Dixon provided the team
“I thought he was really good defensively. He’s a big guard, and we were having trouble, especially in the first half, guarding their pick-and-roll action, keeping them out of the paint. I mean, they had 42 points in the paint. Felt like 30 points in the paint in the first half. But I thought he did a really good job defensively, continuing to dribble drive, keeping them out of the lane and making them take tough shots, rebounding the basketball, and then him just running the team. There was situations where we ran a play, and we just didn’t get what we were looking for, and in those times you just need players to step up and make plays, and Derek made a number of them. I’m really happy for him.”
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On Kentucky not making a shot for nearly 10 minutes
“From a defensive standpoint, we weren’t making mistakes. I mean, Kentucky is an unbelievable team, but I felt like, especially in the first half, they were scoring off of our mistakes. And I felt like we were sound and simple on the defensive end, we were standing between them in the basket. We were giving them one contested look, and then we were boxing out and rebounding. And so, I always go back and say that rebounding is the most important factor in the outcome of a game, and we got 20 offensive rebounds — we outrebounded them by nine. So to me, that was the ball game.”
On what Kentucky did to limit Caleb Wilson
“Caleb is not just a scorer. I mean, he’s a dude, okay? So, I mean, this guy can score, he’s an elite passer, he led our team in assists. More teams are now loading up on him, double-teaming him, trying to make him a passer more than a scorer. That actually benefits us, because he’s such an elite passer, and we always talk about making plays, not just in scoring, but what can you do out there on the floor that can be a benefit to the team. He checked the number of boxes there, and I think, like some of the shots that we got, was because of how much attention is paid on him. So he was fantastic tonight.”
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On how significant this road win is
“I think it’s significant for this new group, this new team, for them to win in this type of environment. I just think it’s good for them. I told them after the game that I just want to give them just a taste of what it’s like to put on that jersey and play in this building against this type of team and program and be able to come up big. And so it’s just great for our growth as a young team. We’re only eight games in, but it’s just real good for our team.”
On offensive rebounding and second-chance points
“I’ve been really harping on that one. I really feel like we can be a great offensive rebounding team. I haven’t been harping on it; I’ve been telling them every second of the day, every day that we meet, how important it is to the success of this team. Even if we didn’t get it, we kept the ball alive. And also, what it does is, if you go to the offensive glass, the other team has to box you out, so they can’t get out in transition. So I mean, there’s just a number of things benefits for us to be able to do that, and that was a huge determining factor of us being able to come away with the win tonight.”
This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Basketball: What Hubert Davis said after Tar Heels’ win over UK
