Hubert Davis after UNC Falls at SMU: “It starts and ends with defense”

North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis met with the media following the Tar Heels' 97-83 road loss to SMU on Saturday afternoon at Moody Coliseum.

SMU’s Boopie Miller posted a double-double with a game-high 27 points and 12 assists. Corey Washington added 23 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field and 5-for-7 from 3-point range. The Mustangs led for more than 33 of the game’s 40 minutes.

Advertisement

North Carolina’s lone bright spot was Seth Trimble, who led the Tar Heels with 22 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Below is everything Davis said in his postgame avalibility below.

Hubert, they shot 70 percent from the floor in the second half. What did you feel like was the biggest challenge for you guys defensively, especially in that second half?

Yeah, they were just able to get anywhere that they wanted to offensively. Boopie was, you know, in control of the ball, whether it's one-on-one, ball-screen action, his patience, being able to get to his spots, be able to score, be able to distribute.

Advertisement

And, you know, from an offensive standpoint we tried to take the ball out of his hands, and guys stepped up and made shots, but he still was able to get the ball to his teammates at the right spot to be able to do something with it. And he played a terrific game.

Do you feel like their quickness played a big part in that too?

Well, they're real quick. I mean, you know, their athleticism, especially from their guard position, is real. Not just athleticism, but their length and physicality. I felt like it affected us, even though we shot 50 percent from the field.

I felt like each one of our cuts, our passes, our scores — it was just hard. It was difficult. And so I do think their athleticism, length and physicality did play a factor.

Advertisement

Henri and Caleb finished with 13 and 14, but it felt like their frontcourt was really making it difficult for them to get what they wanted. What were you seeing from them to limit Henri and Caleb offensively?

Yeah, I mean, their physicality as well. For Henri and Caleb, it was difficult for them to catch the ball at the spots that they wanted to catch it.

I thought they did a good job of mixing up when to double team to keep them off balance. But I just thought their initial defense — not just on those two, but on our whole team — we were starting our offense almost at half court. It was just very difficult to get into scoring range.

Advertisement

During that second-half stretch when they started to pull away, it looked like you couldn’t get into your sets — Caleb got one look, Henri maybe two. What were they doing to keep you out of your offense, and how did that affect everything else?

Yeah, I think it started on the ball. Their pressure on the ball. As I said before, we were starting our offense close to half court.

To initially get into the offense, that first pass is much further away, very difficult. They were in passing lanes, denying. As I said before, every dribble, every cut, every pass felt difficult. And that's something we've just got to learn and grow from, because that's what we're going to face moving forward.

Advertisement

Just what do you think contributed to having such a successful shooting night from deep?

Well, I mean, they have guys that can make shots, so you have to give them credit for stepping up and knocking them down.

But when you have a point guard that can control the ball like Boopie did tonight, it definitely does play a factor. As I said before, I thought he played a fantastic game.

Hubert, I know you referenced SMU's defense, but they've been kind of up and down defensively this year. Several times they had you guys deep into the shot clock. Was that different than what you were expecting from them defensively?

No, I thought that's what we were going to get from them. I think our trouble was not necessarily just the double teams in the post, but being able to break down their defense.

Advertisement

As I said before, we were starting our offense so close to half court, we just couldn't break them down. Sometimes Seth was able to get in there and make plays, but we just couldn't consistently break down their defense. And against good teams, you have to have that, whether it's from one player or multiple players, and we didn't have that consistently today.

Staying on that, especially with their interior defense — were they more physical than what you'd seen on tape? Were their denials more physical?

No, I mean, they're a physical group. They're athletic. They're big. We knew they were going to be physical, and that's something we talked about at every step in our preparation for SMU.

Advertisement

That's what teams have been doing against us — being physical, trying to get us off our spots and make our passes and drives difficult. They were able to do that.

But we still shot 48 percent from the field. You're not going to win many games — if any — if a team shoots 60 percent. As difficult as offense was, we still shot 50 percent from the field and probably shot the ball the best from three.

As I've said before, it starts and ends with defense, rebounding and taking care of the basketball. Defensively, we just didn't play the way we needed to to win a game on the road.

Obviously, Jarin hit three three-pointers after struggling from distance this season. How good was it to see those go in for him, and what does that add?

Yeah, I mean, Jarin is a versatile player with size and can do a number of things on both ends of the floor. He definitely got into a rhythm offensively — probably the best early stretch he's had this season.

Advertisement

But again, it just goes back to defense. It is what it is. For us to be the best team that we can possibly become, we have to be a good defensive team.

Heading into this game, we were one or two in the conference in field-goal percentage defense, and SMU shot 60 percent from the field. That's just not going to get it done against them or anybody else.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions

This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Basketball: Hubert Davis addresses defensive woes in loss to SMU