The North Carolina Tar Heels were shorthanded on Saturday afternoon when they hosted Pitt. They already knew they were going to be without Caleb Wilson who suffered a fracture in his hand. But right before the game, they found out they would be without Henri Veesaar as well.
It didn’t matter, however.
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The Tar Heels led from start to finish in this game, beating Pitt 79-65 to win their sixth out of the last seven games following a loss to Miami on Tuesday. It was an important win for the Tar Heels, especially after being down their top two players.
After the game, head coach Hubert Davis met the media to break down the win. Here is what he said after the game.
All quotes via Inside Carolina
On how his team responded today
“With the news that Caleb was going to be out, and we didn’t know if Henri was playing or not, so we were preparing for Pitt with two different game plans and different rotations and all different types of stuff. And I felt like the two days of practice, they took everything in.”
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“You had two teammates out, and for them to react and respond this way, after maybe in the first half and a little bit of the second half, there was a stretch where we settled for jump shots as opposed to putting the ball on the floor. But the energy, effort, enthusiasm like that was there the entire game, and that’s something that we’ve struggled with throughout the years.”
On Zayden High
“Always tell him that when your number is called, your job and responsibility is to be ready. I can’t tell you when it will be or where or how, in a manner in which, but your job and responsibility is to be ready. I mean, last week at this time, he didn’t play in the Duke game, and a week later, he’s starting. He’s playing 32 minutes. And so the job that he did, defensively, rebounding the basketball, staying out of foul trouble, giving us a post presence, didn’t turn the ball over. I’m just really happy for him.”
On where the energy and production came from today
“We were talking about technical stuff, in regards to these plays offensively, from a defensive standpoint, this is what you want to do. But I said none of that matters without the competitive fight. I said, ‘You guys just have to fight. You’ve got to compete.’ And I said that’s the most important thing when you go home. Yeah, everybody wants to win, but it’s not the end result. It’s did you give everything that you had? Did you give everything that you had in your preparation, in your practice? Did you play as hard as you could? And that’s what gives you peace coming back in the locker room and the guys seem to kind of resonate with that.”
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On Caleb Wilson’s reaction to injury
“I mean, he was obviously devastated. That’s how we felt, and obviously, he loves to play, but he loves being a part of a team. And I think he found out, even though he’s not playing, he’s still part of the team. I mean, even during practice, he can’t even sit down. He’s dribbling with his right hand. He’s shooting hooks with his right hand. He’s on the bike and in the huddles. He was vocal in the locker room. Him and Henri, I thought they played a huge part in giving confidence to their teammates that we could get this thing done.”
On Derek Dixon impacting the game
“There’s so many other ways that you can impact winning, other than just scoring. And Derek being out there taking care of the basketball, we had 18 assists and four turnovers. So, he was the guy that led us in regards to making the easy play. And maybe he didn’t score a lot or shoot the ball well, but not only do we lose Caleb and Henri today, but they’re our two leading scorers or two leading rebounders. And so I told everybody. I said, ‘you need to get five. You need to get at least five.’ And so for Derek to get seven (rebounds), that’s that’s awesome. I’m really proud of him.”
This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Basketball: What Hubert Davis said after beating Pitt
