The North Carolina Tar Heels passed their first-round test in the 2024 NCAA Tournament by destroying the Wagner Seahawks on Thursday, 90-62. It was a walk in the park for the Tar Heels, but North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis still wanted his team to iron out a few things.
Hubert Davis Sounds Off On What The North Carolina Tar Heels Need To Improve On Ahead Of Michigan State Clash
The Tar Heels dominated the Seahawks on both ends of the floor as expected. They shot 55.0 percent from the field and allowed Wagner to convert on just 39.7 percent of its attempts from the floor.
But their defense, in particular, didn’t look all that sharp in the eyes of Davis. North Carolina had the Seahawks taking 15 shots from the free-throw line and getting eight offensive rebounds. Seattle also got outshot by the Tar Heels by a slim margin, 60-58.
Via Evan Rogers of Inside Carolina:
“When I talked about that, I felt like at times we were out of character in the first half. We’ve just got to be better defensively. We talk about finishing each possession defensively. One, without fouling, and two, getting the rebound. Just got to do a better job at that. It hasn’t been any secret. We’ve identified what allows us to have success, and that’s get after it defensively, rebound, and take care of the basketball.
“I felt like in the first half we had moments where we weren’t checking any of those boxes, and that’s something, as you continue to move forward and specifically against Michigan State, you just can’t do that. You’ve got to be sound in all three of those areas.”
Davis knows that his Tar Heels have to be better this Saturday against the Michigan State Spartans than what his team showed versus Wagner. Michigan State isn’t exactly a formidable squad this season, with 14 overall losses to date, but it still is a much more powerful program than Wagner, not to mention that the Spartans are being coached by the legendary Tom Izzo.
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