UNC basketball coach Hubert Davis channels Dean Smith after Tar Heels' loss to Kentucky
ATLANTA – UNC basketball coach Hubert Davis channeled Dean Smith on Saturday night in Georgia.
Following the ninth-ranked Tar Heels’ 87-83 loss to Kentucky at State Farm Arena, Davis mentioned how his former coach approached mistakes.
UNC (7-3) had a crowd of them against the Wildcats (8-2), who were better at taking care of the ball, snagging the ball off the glass and scooping the ball out of a scrum.
It all added up to a four-point loss for the Tar Heels, who trailed eight times by double digits over the course of the game before taking a lead in the final minutes and watching it slip away down the stretch.
“One of the things Coach Smith used to tell us all the time as players is, 'A mistake is good when you recognize it, admit it, learn from it and grow from it,'” Davis said.
“The things that we need to tweak and alter and pivot and change, let’s grow from it.”
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The third-year coach has continually praised the “competitive fight” of his players, but Davis didn’t mince words when asked by a reporter if UNC matched Kentucky’s physicality on Saturday.
“No, we did not. … Kentucky was tougher than us in the trenches,” he said.
“In order to win games like that, you have to win the battle in the paint – whether it’s rebounding, loose balls, finishing around the basket – you have to win those individual battles, and we did not … that’s why we lost the game.”
Senior guard RJ Davis had a team-high 27 points and seven rebounds against the Wildcats, but he mentioned the need to be better at taking care of the ball. Davis and fellow veteran Armando Bacot accounted for 11 of UNC’s season-worst 17 turnovers.
“I have a lot of faith in this team. We have a lot of potential to be really good,” RJ Davis said.
“. … Like Coach Davis said, this was a game of the trenches and battling it through. I’m proud of the team’s effort and the way we fought, we just gotta fight harder next time.”
Kentucky coach John Calipari had high praise for the Tar Heels.
“UNC is a Final-Four-level team,” Calipari said. "They are."
But in order to reach that championship level, the Tar Heels have to reach the level of toughness required to win tough games against the toughest opponents.
The mistakes were too much to overcome against Kentucky. We'll see if UNC can learn from them and limit them against No. 11 Oklahoma (9-0) on Wednesday (9 p.m., ESPN) in Charlotte.
“There’s not an ounce of panic in our locker room,” said Cormac Ryan, who had a season-high 20 points against Kentucky.
“We’re confident in our group. We know how good we can be, especially when we clean up some of the stuff that is our own mistakes.”
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on X/Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: UNC basketball's Hubert Davis quotes Dean Smith after loss to Kentucky
