Davis Uses E Word in Grading North Carolina’s Loss

The North Carolina Tar Heels were uninspiring against the North Carolina State Wolfpack on Tuesday night, losing 82-58 in a dreadful shooting performance.

While speaking with the media during his postgame press conference, head coach Hubert Davis spoke on the team's performance.

Davis' Thoughts

Feb 17, 2026; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Hubert Davis reacts during the first half against the NC State Wolfpack at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images | Zachary Taft-Imagn Images

“I just felt like our competitive fight wasn’t there," Davis said. "Especially from a defensive standpoint, they didn’t feel us defensively. Didn’t feel our presence at all. We talked about that, and at the end of the day, it’s going to end up being one-on-one defense. Can we defend them without fouling? Are we man enough when the ball goes up in there on the ground? Can we go get it? And I don’t think we did a very good job of that.”

North Carolina's group defense was non-existent, as Quadir Copeland effortlessly worked his way to the basket over and over again, totaling 20 points, seven assists, and six rebounds, and four assists while shooting 7-of-16 from the field and 6-of-8 from the free throw line. Davis discussed the lackluster defensive performance.

“I’ve been consistent with this all year, that our heartbeat, our lifeline… it starts with defense and us rebounding," Davis said. "That’s what leads us to really good offense, and we weren’t tough enough. We weren’t good enough on the defensive end. Now, we did get offensive rebounds, but the physical presence that you have to have defensively, we just didn’t do that today.”

Feb 17, 2026; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; NC State Wolfpack guard Quadir Copeland (11) and guard Terrance Arceneaux (21) celebrate in front of the North Carolina Tar Heels bench during the first half at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images | Zachary Taft-Imagn Images

Dismal shooting

The Tar Heels shot 32 percent from the field and 15 percent from three-point range, which were both season lows for the team. The 55-year-old head coach gave credit to North Carolina State's defense.

“One, I want to give credit to [North Carolina] State’s defense. They do a really good job of getting in the passing lanes and swiping and getting steals and deflections," Davis said. "And so, we knew that we needed to be sound with the basketball on the offensive end and make the easy play. We just couldn’t - outside of Jarin [Stevenson] and Zayden [High] - we just couldn’t generate any good shots consistently."

"Whether it was off dribble, drive, pick and roll, D.H.O isolations, we just couldn’t generate consistent paint touches, putting two on the ball and being able to generate consistent, really good shots," Davis continued. "That being said, of the 33 threes that we took, it was a good portion that were wide open, and we just didn’t make them. And so going into this game, we knew that we needed the ability to be able to shoot from three and make, and we just didn’t do it tonight.”

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