2 Best Quotes Heading into North Carolina-Notre Dame

The North Carolina Tar Heels have lost three of their last four games, causing concern for this team's outlook for the rest of the season. With the Tar Heels hosting the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Wednesday night, here are several thoughts from players and the coaching staff that carries immense weight heading into the contest.

Defense and Taking Accountability

Jan 17, 2026; Berkeley, California, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels forward Caleb Wilson (8) blocks out California Golden Bears guard Nolan Dorsey (21) during the second half at Haas Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

“Just go back, learn from this game, watch film on this game, and then concentrate on the next opponent and do whatever we can do to have the best defensive game there,” Henri Veesaar said, “and just really change our identity as a team and show how physical we can be and how good we can be defensively, because I think that’s what coaches take pride in, and we’re not doing our job.”

“I guess, at the end of the day, it’s just about being able to guard the ball,” Caleb Wilson said. “That’s really all I can say. They stuck to exactly what was working. They were in the same place over and over again. It wasn’t like they were doing anything special.”

“Continue to repeat it, continue to drill it, continue to coach it, and continue to hold guys accountable towards it," Hubert Davis said. "And also, throughout the year, everybody goes through some bumps, whether it’s at the beginning of the year, middle of the year, you hope it’s not at the end of the year, and you have to find a way to work through it. And so, these are some bumps that we went through this week and three of the last four games, and we’re going to have to respond and fight back."

Battling Adversity

Jan 14, 2026; Stanford, California, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Seth Trimble (7) celebrates against the Stanford Cardinal in the second half at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Eakin Howard-Imagn Images | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

"It would be great to go undefeated, having perfect practices and no turnovers, no injuries and no delays in travel, but that kind of stuff just doesn't happen," Davis said. "So, I always tell the players the two things you have control over are how you react and how you respond. I was not happy with how we reacted and responded against Stanford and Cal."

"We have 11 new guys on this team, and this is the first time that this group has had to kind of figure it out," Davis said. "And that's really good. There are going to be bumps in the road, there's going to be traffic, there's going to be speed bumps, and you've got to figure out how to smooth those things out and the areas you have to get better at."

“Coach Davis had a message. I had a message. All the guys [did],” Seth Trimble said. “We were all talking in the locker room, and it was basically just to let go of all outside noise, whatever fans have to say, whatever your expectations of yourself are, whatever it is.”

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