CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — This is more what Hubert Davis imagined 50 weeks ago, a North Carolina team living up to the program’s traditional standards — “You’re not really remembered at UNC for a Sweet 16,” Armando Bacot pointed out Tuesday — and doing it with togetherness and unity.
It didn’t happen right away, but everything he once envisioned is coming to fruition, not necessarily the continuation of an old regime but the realization of a new one.
North Carolina has won 14 of its past 17 games, including a history-defying win at Duke that earned its own chapter in rivalry lore, survived one of the most chaotic NCAA Tournament games in recent memory in the overtime win over top-seeded Baylor and heads to Philadelphia to face another of the bluest of bloods in UCLA.
This is what Davis wanted from the Tar Heels all along.
“The thing that fuels me is to see the players happy,” Davis said. “To see them successful. To see all their hard work come back in a positive way. To see them, their reaction, and how excited, how joyful, how together that this group is; it warms my heart and it brings joy to me. I always tell this to the guys. I just want things to work out for them.”
The Tar Heels have done it with almost no bench to speak of, with a constant evolution of roles and responsibilities, and with almost no resemblance to their up-and-down whiplash of December and January, when the erratic Tar Heels seemed determined to replicate last season’s first-round NCAA Tournament exit, if not miss the tournament entirely.
Davis would be more than entitled to take a victory lap at this point, given the wide array of criticism he faced in the early going over North Carolina’s performance and effort, not to mention questions about whether freshmen like Dontrez Styles and D’Marco Dunn should have seen more action early on — something Davis’ predecessor, Roy Williams, always made a point to ensure.
The critics are quiet now. Davis seemed to hint at that when he defended the officials who made a hash of the Baylor game.
“Did the refs make some calls I didn’t necessarily agree with? Yes. But that’s OK,” Davis said. “They’re good people and good refs. It happens all the time. I’m sure people don’t agree with some of the calls I make and some of the decisions I make. That’s OK.”
And for all the questions about not giving Styles or Dunn more playing time, Styles was pressed into action after Brady Manek’s ejection against Baylor and made a huge 3-pointer to open overtime, only his third of the season. Not only were his 25 minutes his most of the season, it was only his fifth game in double-digits.
“When Dontrez hit that 3 during OT, I was like good, let’s go from here,” R.J. Davis said. “That was a big 3 and I’m super happy for him — the amount of work he put in. Just trust the process. I’m glad he enjoyed that.”
He’s not the only one. As Hubert Davis’ first season in charge comes to a close, perhaps not Friday but soon, one way or another, the Tar Heels aren’t just hot. They’re warming their coach’s heart.
