Hubert Davis on Loss to SMU: 'It Goes Back to Defense'

DALLAS — Simply put, North Carolina’s 97-83 loss to SMU on Saturday was its worst defensive performance of the season to date. It was probably also the worst defensive performance of the Hubert Davis era.

The Mustangs shot 71.4 percent from the field in the second half and 60 percent for the game — including 51.9 percent on three-point attempts – to average a stunning 1.426 points per possession.

Read and watch what head coach Hubert Davis had to say about it after the game on Saturday. North Carolina is now 13-2 on the season and 1-1 in the ACC …

SMU shot 70% from the floor in that second half. What did you feel like was the biggest challenge defensively?

Hubert Davis: “Yeah, they were just able to get anywhere that they wanted to. Offensively, Boopi (Miller) was in control of the ball, whether it’s one-on-one ball, screen action, his patience, being able to get to his spots, being able to score, being able to distribute. 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. Their athleticism, especially from their guard position, is real, not only their athleticism, but their length, physicality. I felt like it affected us. Even though we shot (about) 50% from the field. I felt like each one of our cuts, our passes, our scores was just was hard. I do think their athleticism and length and physicality did play a factor.”

Henri and Caleb finished with 13 and 14 points, 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 Caleb and Henri 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 it up when the double team to keep them off balance. But I just thought their initial defense, not just on those two, but just our whole team. We were starting our offense almost at half court, just very difficult to get in a scoring range. … just every dribble, every cut, every pass I felt like was was difficult, and that’s something that we just got to learn and grow from, because that’s what we’ll face moving forward. …

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

Were they more physical than you’d seen on tape?

“No, they’re a physical group, they’re athletic, they’re big. We knew that they were going to be physical. It’s something that we had talked about at every step in our preparation for SMU, and that’s what teams have been doing against us. Just being physical with us and trying to get us off our spots and make our passes and our drives difficult. And they were able to do it.

“But we still shot 48% from the field. It’s on the defensive end. Not going to win hardly any games — any at all — if a team shoots 60%. As difficult as offense was, we still shot 50% from the field. We shot the ball probably the best from three. So as I said before, it always starts and ends with us with defense, rebounding and taking care of the basketball and defensively we just didn’t play the way we needed to to be able to beat a team here on the road.

“… 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. I think heading into this game, we were one or two in regards to field goal percentage defense in the conference, and SMU shot 60% from the field. It’s just not going to get it done against them or anybody else.”