Despite a tough loss and a key injury, North Carolina coach Davis highlights a senior's crucial leadership and performance heading into the NCAA Tournament.
No. 19 North Carolina will try to avoid ending its season on a three-game losing streak when it next plays in the NCAA Tournament next week.
The Tar Heels revealed the news that they lost their star freshman Caleb Wilson for the season due to a broken right thumb before the ACC Tournament.
UNC finished the regular season with a 76-61 loss to No. 1 Duke on Saturday. The Tar Heels struggled defensively on Thursday night against Clemson, allowing the Tigers to shoot 49 percent offensively in an 80-79 loss in the quarterfinal.
Henri Veesaar led the Tar Heels with 28 points to go along with 17 rebounds and two assists. Senior Seth Trimble scored 13 points and added three rebounds and eight assists.
During his postgame news conference, UNC head coach Hubert Davis praised Trimble for his leadership this season.
"Seth is one of our leaders on the team, somebody that should be celebrated for obviously his career thus far," Davis said, via USA Today.
"But being as accomplished as a player, for him to be a four-year player, committed to his team, committed to this program, committed to this university for four years is something, as I said before, should be highlighted and celebrated."
Veesaar and Trimble will be key for the Tar Heels during the NCAA Tournament. Trimble is averaging 14 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Veesaar is averaging 16.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and two assists per game.
Davis has big questions to answer before the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels beat Duke earlier in the season when Wilson was healthy.
Without Wilson, UNC has been inconsistent on the court. It'll be hard for the Tar Heels to win six games without their best player.
Davis has his mind on the NCAA Tournament.
"Big-picture questions – it's not that I can't answer it, I'm just not thinking about that right now," Davis said. "I'm thinking about our team and thinking about these kids and thinking about the NCAA Tournament next week."
North Carolina could have fought for the opportunity to be a No. 4 or No. 5 seed this week. With the loss to Clemson and Wilson's injury, they could drop significantly before Selection Sunday.
UNC has enough juice on its roster to earn a trip to the Sweet Sixteen. It remains to be seen if Veesaar and Trimble can get North Carolina beyond that.