North Carolina’s season has been filled with strange play, but Saturday’s win over Virginia showed something the Tar Heels have been searching for, and that’s fighting back and doing the little things.
The first half didn’t go as anyone wanted on the road. However, as the game went on, the Tar Heels began to play the type of basketball head coach Hubert Davis has been looking for them to play all season.
“I just feel like our guys showed up to the fight in the second half,” Davis said, per Rodd Baxley of the Fayetteville Observer. “... But I told them, you know, the only way, the only route, the only road to be able to get back in this game and to be able to win it is those plays in the trenches.
“It's setting solid legal screens, making the easy play. It's boxing out and rebounding, getting loose balls, making a free throw, making an extra pass. And I felt like we did that pretty much the whole second half and allowed us to come back and get an unbelievable win.”
For Davis, the performance showed improved play, and while UNC is far from perfect, it showed more on Saturday than it has for a lot of this year.
“We're not a big turnover team, but I felt like our activity, our hands — we got steals, deflections — allowed us to get into the open court," Davis said. "The way that we transition from defense to offense, I thought was real. Jarin (Stevenson) and Caleb (Wilson) did exactly what they were asked to do: run down the middle of the floor, and the pitch-ahead (passes were there). ... I felt like that got us back into the game and just gave us a lot of energy."
The win also helped to slow down some tension. While UVA’s offense isn’t great, UNC played much better defense in the second-half, holding UVA to just 37 points.
As the Tar Heels move forward, the hope is for them to continue to play this way. If so, they should be fine in AC play and beyond.