Hubert Davis Rues UNC's Late-Game Struggles

The North Carolina Tar Heels defeated the Syracuse Orange 87-77 on Monday night at the Dean E. Smith Center, extending their win streak to four games.

While speaking with the media during his postgame press conference, head coach Hubert Davis spoke on the Tar Heels' struggles in the second half, leading nearly blowing a 32-point lead.

Davis' Thoughts

Feb 2, 2026; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Kyan Evans (0) and center Henri Veesaar (13) and forward Jonathan Powell (11) react in the first half at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

“I put a lot of stock in it," Davis said. "We always talk about finishing possessions, finishing halves, finishing games, and that’s just unacceptable. I thought we were playing really well on both ends of the floor. I felt defensively, we were getting better throughout the game, especially second half. I thought we responded and came out on both ends of the floor."

"We were on point, and Syracuse is a great basketball team," Davis continued. "Coach Autry is a fantastic coach, and you can see they’re extremely talented. But the last nine minutes and 32 seconds, just a departure of what allowed us to get the lead - taking good shots, taking care of the basketball, executing defensively, defending without fouling. Execution wise, defensively, boxing out, just different stuff like that, and they got it to six. And so we’ll watch the film and learn from it.”

It was the total opposite in earlier in the second half, as the Tar Heels outscored the Orange 26-8 shortly after halftime, building the aforementioned 32-point lead. Davis explained his thoughts on that stretch of the game.

Feb 2, 2026; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels forward Jarin Stevenson (15) with the ball as Syracuse Orange guard Nate Kingz (4) and guard Naithan George (11) defend in the second half at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

“Yeah, I put a lot of stock in that one," Davis said. "I like that as well, but that’s something that we have battled all year, is our ability to stay on point on script, and that’s something that we need to fix. Now we have stretches, I think, of brilliance, and then we’ll go stretches where we’re making multiple mistakes, consecutively, and that’s something that we have to work on, and something that we have to get better at.”

The 55-year-old head coach explained the human nature of being complacent with a big lead, which was clearly the case on Monday night.

“Yeah, that’s difficult," Davis said. "Maybe I should text them or tweet or, I don’t know, the way that they communicate, but just the ability to stay locked in and be able to consistently do the things that are asked of you. No one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes, but there’s a level of consistency, individually and as a team, that needs to be there to be successful. And I think our team is learning.”

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