Up next in 10
#UNC's Hubert Davis and Ven-Allen Lubin after the Tar Heels' win over Wake Forest.
Mar 13, 2025
Subscribe to the Tar Heel Tribune channel so that you don't miss any videos.
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:11
water are you good I'm good thank
0:14
okay thank you very start us off by two
0:17
questions
0:20
okay okay we're open up with two
0:22
questions for Coach Davis then we'll
0:24
take questions for the uh players who
0:27
has the first question
0:35
wait for the microphone please thank you
0:36
so much thank you I'm so sorry I'm
0:38
Caroline with the daily torill Huber as
0:40
you were facing as your team was facing
0:42
so much physicality and playing with
0:44
foul trouble what was just your message
0:45
to
0:47
them well um you know just
0:52
that you know we're built for that you
0:55
know we've um in the locker room just
0:58
telling them uh so proud of how they've
1:03
stayed connected stayed the course
1:04
through ups and downs
1:07
perseverance there's a level of
1:08
toughness here that has been developed
1:11
over the last seven or eight months that
1:14
we've been together
1:19
and we were in these type of situations
1:22
earlier in the year and weren't able to
1:26
to get
1:27
stronger and we're able to do it today
1:31
and as a coach to be able to
1:33
see these
1:35
guys perform under pressure and do it
1:40
together is one of the most amazing
1:42
things that you can see as a
1:45
coach back of the room Hubert right back
1:48
here sorry Brendon marks from the
1:49
athletic you mentioned obviously you
1:51
guys have been in these experiences a
1:52
bunch of times before obviously it's
1:54
tied with three and a half minutes to go
1:56
how much do you attribute those last
1:57
three and a half minutes to the growth
1:59
of the team and how much do you
2:00
contribute to the banked experiences
2:02
that you guys had in those late game
2:04
situations through the first couple of
2:05
months I think both I mean I think being
2:08
in that situation so many times you can
2:10
draw upon those experiences where it
2:15
worked out and where it didn't and so be
2:18
that type of
2:23
situation these guys now step towards it
2:26
as opposed to standing still or maybe
2:27
taking a step back and sometimes you you
2:30
still the outcome doesn't go your way
2:34
but down in the stretch is the
2:37
discipline and details to be able to
2:38
execute on both ends of the floor we
2:40
didn't turn the ball over we executed we
2:42
scored and on the defensive end we
2:44
defended didn't foul and didn't didn't
2:46
give them Second Chance opportunities
2:47
that's the game and that's a game
2:49
earlier in the year that we lost and I
2:52
think it shows tremendous growth in
2:54
where we are right now okay now we take
2:57
questions for uh Van Allen
3:00
front
3:03
row Stephen Arthur Virginia Tech
3:06
television Vin Allen you had those two
3:08
huge dunks under the two minutes in the
3:11
in the end of the game what were the
3:13
emotions kind of like for you as you
3:15
practically put the dagger in uh it was
3:18
just electric you know and just U making
3:20
plays like that uh just knowing that
3:22
coach always emphasized of going to
3:24
offensive boards is getting us you know
3:25
Second Chance opportunities uh just the
3:28
way I just kind of wanted attack the rim
3:30
and give you know our team a chance to
3:32
you know give us a win you know it was
3:34
very important that you know I just had
3:35
to make those two dunks third row to our
3:39
left Bob holiday wwl.com Van Allen you
3:42
had a 10 points 13 rebounds three four
3:46
blocks um and a lot of what you did came
3:49
after you got your fourth foul uh was
3:51
there uh any increased emotion what was
3:54
your mind set after you got the fourth
3:55
foul and particularly wake Force went
3:57
with three bigs at the end how did you
3:59
get by for those two rebound slams yeah
4:02
you know it was obviously frustrating
4:03
getting those four fouls and just
4:05
knowing that you have to play smart and
4:06
you know just not trying to play too
4:07
physical to get your fifth one and to
4:09
set out the game uh we just know it's
4:11
really important for me just to play
4:12
smart and just to stay stay in it you
4:14
know so I just make sure I stay and stay
4:16
present and just know I can do just try
4:18
to do whatever I can back right uh Hi V
4:22
Michael Co wch on Chapel bar.com when
4:24
you see your head coach uh get a
4:26
technical foul late in the second half I
4:28
didn't get it the bench that wasn't me
4:31
the bench yeah that wasn't me sorry
4:33
hbert my bad I got one against Michigan
4:35
State my bad
4:37
hbert uh when you see the bench get a
4:39
technical foul then what kind of effect
4:41
did that have on the team did that sort
4:43
of you know catalyze you to make that
4:45
big late game run to put the game away
4:48
no I mean you know that's just part of
4:49
the game you know those type of you know
4:52
situation happens you know we just the
4:54
Five Guys on the court just kind of just
4:55
you know stay together just know like no
4:58
matter what happens you know this just
4:59
finish out the game the right way you
5:00
know make the right plays and offensive
5:02
end and get some STS on defensive side
5:04
and then that would really determine the
5:06
game front real hey Ben and Steve Reed
5:09
with the Associated Press um obviously
5:12
there's a lot of talk Bubble Watch and
5:14
how much do you guys talk about that as
5:15
players and did you talk about it coming
5:18
into this tournament that you might have
5:19
to get to the semifinals and and do you
5:21
think you're in uh no there's not really
5:23
much talk at least you know for me and
5:24
you know from the guys you know just
5:26
really just taking a one game at a time
5:27
you know just facing our opponent you
5:29
know right in front of us um and just
5:32
kind of keeping our head forward you
5:33
know staying grounded and just knowing
5:35
that we got another opportunity tomorrow
5:36
and so that's our main focus right now
5:39
back of the room Vin Allen dick Cox with
5:41
ly Sports and Cox sports broadcasting as
5:44
a big guy playing inside do you like a
5:46
physical game like that or is it hard to
5:49
do your job when it's that physical I
5:52
mean as long as it's physical and fair
5:53
then you know I can I can rock with it
5:55
but you know uh that's sometimes going
5:57
to go our way sometime it doesn't so
5:59
it's just playing through you know the
6:01
physicality and the toughness and just
6:02
really just showing you know how tough
6:04
we really are and I believe we show that
6:06
four throw in the AIS Van Allen Ashley
6:08
Mahoney with axio Charlotte you
6:10
mentioned of course being focused on the
6:11
team that's right in front of you and
6:12
the path to the championship will go
6:14
through Duke what are your thoughts on
6:15
having to face them again just knowing
6:17
that we want we want that you know we
6:19
want that competition we want you know
6:20
our revenge against them you know and so
6:22
just gave us another opportunity just to
6:24
to get a win against them and just to
6:25
play a really great team just to give us
6:27
a chance to play in the championship
6:29
the rim Van Allen um when R uh Alex zler
6:33
with the Charlotte Observer when RJ
6:36
twist rolls his ankle and he insists on
6:39
staying in the game and then ultimately
6:41
makes a couple plays down the
6:43
stretch what does that mean to you as a
6:45
teammate that just show the type of
6:47
player he is and the type of person he
6:48
is just the the toughness that he he
6:50
just goes through through adversity and
6:53
just uh just a play through it you know
6:54
it's not easy you know playing on a
6:56
herur ankle or just you know being
6:57
injured you know but just his toughness
7:00
that he showed on the court just to be
7:01
able to stay in and just you know play
7:03
through it you know really just show the
7:04
type of player he is and that's
7:05
something that we really need just a
7:07
player like that any other questions for
7:10
vanin Allen front row last
7:13
one Vin Allen you had those 13 rebounds
7:17
during the game what was kind of the
7:19
strategy to keep in Keen Eye on the ball
7:21
I just going you know was really just
7:23
trying to get inside position and just
7:25
really just tracking the ball in the air
7:27
uh just really important for me just to
7:29
know just to get get those Second Chance
7:30
opportunities on offensive side and on
7:31
defensive end just to limit them to one
7:33
one shot and so it really just for me
7:35
just to you know uh assert myself and in
7:37
the paint and just grab those ball okay
7:40
Van Allen thank you I head back to the
7:42
locker room the Carolina locker room is
7:43
open till 5:38 we'll now take questions
7:46
for Coach Davis first one second r or
7:49
right coach Brett freedlander Saturday
7:51
down south um Hubert I know you
7:53
addressed this a little on Saturday but
7:55
could you kind of address the the
7:57
urgency that that RJ seems to be playing
8:00
with right now and how that just kind of
8:01
carries over to everybody else well I I
8:06
yeah there is an urgency because you
8:08
know he has no more eligibility left but
8:10
there's also a um also a sense of
8:13
calmness um and
8:15
steadiness that this team has needed all
8:18
year long and um especially in
8:22
situations like you know late game
8:25
having a guy like RJ that's been there
8:27
done that before and being able to draw
8:30
on his experience and how calm he is and
8:32
be able to execute Under Pressure um
8:36
just helps out our team so much and um
8:39
you have to have people you have to have
8:41
leaders like that on the team and I
8:43
can't think of anyone better than that
8:44
than
8:45
RJ back right uh Hubert Michael Co wchl
8:50
not my technical not your technical uh
8:52
what can you say about the performances
8:54
of Jay wit and Vin I mean they both had
8:56
their shooting struggles early on in the
8:57
game but they both made critical plays
9:00
uh throughout the game without scoring
9:01
and also late in the game in that run
9:03
what can you say about their performance
9:05
in the front Court yeah you know that's
9:06
one of the things that you know we talk
9:08
about is there's so many ways that you
9:12
can be impactful out there on the floor
9:14
to help your team win winning plays is
9:17
not just scoring there's rebounding
9:20
talking on defense diving on loose balls
9:23
getting steals deflections making a free
9:25
throw all those different types of
9:27
things being able to execute and so
9:29
again and when you have you know Vin's a
9:31
junior Jay wits 50the senior that type
9:34
of
9:35
experience um they've been in tight
9:37
situations before and and feel
9:39
comfortable about stepping up and making
9:41
plays in those
9:42
situations back
9:44
left coach um Duke and UNCC facing once
9:48
again this year three times now they
9:51
faced you guys have faced each other a
9:53
lot in the ACC tournament in the past do
9:55
you want to touch up on the history of
9:57
that or is it just another game for
9:58
y'all
10:02
well I mean
10:04
I gosh I don't I don't think we haven't
10:07
played them since I've been head
10:09
coaching ACC I don't I don't think so
10:11
but I mean playing Duke is um it's an
10:15
opportunity to play against the number
10:17
one team in the country obviously
10:19
they're playing extremely well uh we
10:21
just played them last week on senior
10:23
night on our home floor and we're
10:25
excited about the opportunity to be able
10:27
to compete against them uh tomorrow
10:29
night at
10:30
7 back left uh Hubert Brian Murphy with
10:34
wrl uh this league obviously in the past
10:37
has gotten so many teams in the NCAA
10:38
tournament sort of going five you know
10:40
above 500 in this league would put you
10:42
in automatically what has changed and
10:45
what can this league do to make sure
10:46
that it gets five six seven maybe eight
10:49
or nine teams in the tournament well I'm
10:52
you know I grew up right outside of
10:54
Washington DC I was born in Winston
10:56
Salem and I grew up with the ACC turn
10:59
tournament in the ACC you know
11:02
um uh conference in um I know that I'm
11:06
biased but I think it's the best
11:07
conference in college basketball and
11:16
um you compete against Wake Forest and
11:19
Syracuse and Louisville and Boston
11:21
College every
11:23
night come firsthand and see the
11:26
competition and how not only does this
11:29
conference produce unbelievable teams
11:31
but unbelievable teams that do great in
11:33
the tournament that have incredible
11:36
players that go to the next level and
11:38
have outstanding NBA careers as well
11:42
we'll take three more questions front
11:44
row coach Steve Reed from the Associated
11:46
Press with that said do you feel like
11:48
this team has earned a spot in the NCA
11:49
tournament especially after this win you
11:52
know the thing that I always focus on is
11:55
what is real and so you asked that a
11:58
similar question to been and my
12:01
communication with them in regards
12:03
[Music]
12:04
to the NCAA tournament has been
12:08
zero um what is real for us is our
12:11
Improvement as a team what is real for
12:13
us has been the opponent right in front
12:15
of us right now it's playing Duke
12:18
tomorrow at 7 and those are the things
12:19
that we're focused on I just I've always
12:22
believed this from coach smth and Coach
12:24
guthridge if you just focus on the
12:26
preparation the the process in your play
12:29
everything else will take care of itself
12:31
and so that's where our focus is on and
12:34
I feel like we're getting better and we
12:36
feel like we're improving third row by
12:39
the holiday.com you held Wake Forest to
12:41
34% shooting two of 22 from three there
12:45
were a lot of long possessions uh
12:49
including a number of shot clock
12:50
violations how satisfying was it for you
12:53
as their coach to see those long
12:55
possessions and see wake really struggle
12:57
to get a shot I like the long
12:59
possessions I don't know if they like
13:00
the long possessions but you know one of
13:02
the things that we always say to each
13:04
other for everything but specifically
13:07
from a defensive standpoint is whatever
13:09
it takes and I can't tell you
13:14
like just the communication in the
13:16
Huddle now we've got multiple players in
13:19
the Huddle saying whatever it takes
13:21
whatever it takes just to get a stop
13:23
whatever it takes to finish the
13:24
possession with the box out rebound
13:26
whatever it takes to defend without foul
13:29
and so now it's going from player to
13:31
player and they have really bought into
13:34
it whether it's playing defense for five
13:37
seconds or 30 seconds whatever it takes
13:39
let's see if we can get a stop because
13:41
if we can get a stop and a rebound then
13:42
we get to go in transition where we've
13:45
been consistently good all season last
13:47
question back of the room coach the
13:49
first four minutes of each half or two
13:51
of the segments are probably most
13:53
important in your game can you got off
13:55
to a slow start but can you talk about
13:57
you came out of the locker room after
13:58
halftime it seemed to set the tone for
14:00
the rest of the game for you yeah it did
14:02
I mean we you know I talked to the team
14:05
throughout the whole game and and kind
14:06
of chop up the game in in four minute
14:09
Parts you know at the beginning of the
14:11
game hey let's make this the best four
14:13
minutes let's get multiple stops to
14:15
start the game and then at the 12 8
14:18
Minute Mark let's make this the best
14:19
four minutes we've played all game
14:21
coming out of half let's set the tone
14:24
for the first four minutes it starts
14:26
with defense rebounding taking care of
14:28
the basketball and so and then the last
14:30
four or 3 minutes hey here we are let's
14:32
tighten the screws on the discipline and
14:34
details and let's execute on both ends
14:35
of the floor so that's communication
14:37
that uh us as a team has consistently
14:40
throughout the game not just at the
14:42
beginning of the game or the beginning
14:43
of the second half thanks coach thank
14:46
you see you tomorrow yeah see you
14:48
tomorrow
14:55
[Music]
Sports News
Sports
College Sports