North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Hubert Davis couldn't be any prouder of his team after they took down Mike Krzyzewski and his Duke Blue Devils in their Final Four rivalry game on Saturday.
The Tar Heels got big performances from star guard Caleb Love and forward Armando Bacot to stave off Duke, 81-77. Love finished with a game-high 28 points to go along with four assists and one rebound, while Bacot had a monster double-double of 11 points and 21 rebounds to help North Carolina control the game–especially in the second half where they dropped 47 points.
Four UNC players scored in double figures, while Duke saw Paolo Banchero (20), Trevor Keels (19) and Wendell Moore (10) carry the scoring load for them. Of course that balanced offense from North Carolina proved to be the difference-maker as they edged their rivals by a rather narrow margin.
Following the win, Hubert expressed his joy and gave credit to his players who worked really hard for them to be at where they are now: heading to the National Championship.
“All I know is this has been a group of perseverance, toughness and resiliency. I've said over the last two and half months, this group is so together, the help of this team and this program is at its finest. I'm just so proud of it,” the first-year head coach said.
“Seeing them continue to have experiences, testimonies and stories out there, I'm just telling you as a coach, it brings so much joy to me to see these guys have a smile on their faces and come up big. This is a beautiful moment.”
"This is a beautiful moment."
Hubert Davis and Caleb Love after UNC knocks out Duke to make the title game pic.twitter.com/lpPbAfZeV1
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 3, 2022
Hubert Davis went on to describe how meaningful the victory is. He is just the fourth first-year head coach to reach the national title game, and for hi, it's because of their desire to put the Tar Heels back on the map of college basketball.
“I felt like over the last two or three years, North Carolina wasn't relevant. North Carolina should never be irrelevant, and should be front and center with the spotlight on them–on all players like Caleb (Love) and RJ (Davis). I'm so happy for them, I'm so happy for our program. It's a beautiful day for Carolina basketball.”
The Tar Heels certainly have every reason to celebrate. They stepped up when it mattered most, not giving up despite trailing by a narrow margin at the end of the first half. They knew what they had to do, and they executed their game plan really well to secure the victory.
Of course the job is far from over for the team. They now move to the title game where the Kansas Jayhawks await them. It will be a difficult battle against a higher-seeded squad, but as what Davis and his UNC team have proven against Duke, the seeding doesn't really matter.
The pressure is on for the Tar Heels to complete their incredible run. Nonetheless, no one can ever take away for them what they have already achieved. Only a few teams are given the chance to compete for the championship, and they already did that in the first year of Davis.
Regardless of the result on Monday night, this 2021-22 North Carolina team led by Hubert Davis will surely be remembered as one of the best in the history of the program.
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