Hubert Davis opens up on what makes Wagner dangerous
For the 18th time in program history, North Carolina enters the NCAA Tournament a No. 1 seed. Leading the pack in the West Region as they’ll face Wagner on Thursday in their first-round matchup of March Madness.
The Tar Heels are 24.5-point favorites over Wagner to open up the tournament, but UNC head coach Hubert Davis is not taking the Seahawks lightly following their recent conference tournament final and First Four wins leading up to their showdown.
“One, they’re a basketball team that’s extremely well-coached,” Davis said. “Just for their conference tournament, just to get to the NCAA Tournament, they had to win three games on the road. That’s real to be able to do that.”
The Seahawks caught fire in the postseason to take home the NEC Tournament title after winning just seven games in conference play this year. Securing their first-ever NCAA Tournament win on Tuesday with a 71-68 First Four victory against Howard after shooting an impressive 52.7% from the field and 47.1% from beyond the three-point line.
“And then to beat a very good Howard team on a neutral site, it’s a team that’s very confident, a team that can really shoot. They’re outstanding defensively. I already mentioned they’re extremely well-coached, and they’re excited about the opportunity about playing us,” Davis explained.
There have been two instances in tournament history where a No. 16 seed was able to pull off the upset versus a top-seeded team. With UMBC knocking off Virginia in 2018 and Fairleigh Dickinson defeating Purdue just last year in the biggest surprise of the most recent tournament. As the Tar Heels will look to learn from the past mistakes of top teams and not overlook the Seahawks on Thursday.
“It doesn’t matter what conference, where you come from, if you’re a part of this tournament, you’ve experienced success at some stage, at some way throughout the season, which allows you to be successful,” Davis said. “Wagner has our full attention because they are deserving of having our full attention, and we’re excited about the challenge of playing a really good Wagner team.”
North Carolina and Wagner’s first-round matchup tips off at 2:45 p.m. ET, airing on CBS and streaming on Prime Video.