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University of North Carolina Athletics
Jae'Lyn Withers
Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI
UNC-Miami Postgame Quotes
February 26, 2024 | Men's Basketball
North Carolina vs. Miami
Men's Basketball
2/26/2024
Dean E. Smith Center
Chapel Hill, N.C.
UNC 75 - Miami 71
Hubert Davis
On RJ Davis:
"It was great to play the way he did on the national scene, but what he did tonight, he's been doing all season. He put the team on his back. It wasn't just points. I thought he was great defensively. He took care of the basketball, distributed, rebounded and boxed out. And, of course, we needed every bit of his 42 tonight."
On doing the little things:
"It's not going to be on Instagram and it's probably not going to be on the news, but we always talk about details and discipline and that the little things make the big things happen. J-Wit [Jae'Lyn Withers] had to step up and make two free throws. J-Wit and Harrison [Ingram] kept the ball alive on free throws. Those are the little things that we talk about on a daily basis that make big things happen."
On RJ Davis' response after an off shooting night at Virginia:
"He gets battered and bruised every game. How do you react and how do you respond after something good or bad happens? I don't think that RJ had a bad game against Virginia, but I knew that he would respond in terms of his ability to shoot and to score. The first five minutes, he was pretty hot and in a really nice rhythm, but it didn't surprise me at all."
On preparation for NC State:
"I'm just thinking about keeping our eyes straight ahead and focusing on what is real for this game. What was real was our preparation against Miami, and now after a day off, our focus and our concentration is on NC State this Saturday."
RJ Davis
On his performance tonight:
"I was aggressive, shots were falling, so it felt good. It's all glory to God. Just how my career has been going from freshman year to now. Just kind of staying down, waiting my turn, for me to have a performance like that tonight means the world to me. I am just locked in. I'm confident in myself and in my shot. I'm also getting open. My teammates are doing a great job of setting screens, and finding me to make these shots. Once I get in my groove like that, it feels like I can't miss. I actually feel like I could have had 50, but I missed free throws and whatnot. I just felt good. The ball felt good, the shots felt good, everything felt great tonight."
On his visions for this season coming true:
"I envisioned the year I wanted to have and the way I have been playing, but I did not envision the crowd chanting my name and whatnot. I think that all comes with just staying in the gym, staying down, waiting my turn and staying confident. I have definitely had an amazing career here, my freshman year up until now. Just to see my progression throughout the years and for me to have a great year my senior year, and kind of just speaking it into existence, it's all happening for me, so I am happy."
Jae'Lyn Withers
On his free throws at the end of the game:
"I was thinking, 'Take us home.' At the end of the day, it's not like it was a contested three that I had to shoot or a tough finish…. I think that [a pressure free throw like that] was a first for me, but free throws are free throws in my eyes."
On RJ Davis:
"He's unbelievable…He has been making history all year. He is, in my eyes, the best player in the nation."
"This summer, he was in the gym more than anybody. I saw it in the summer, the way that he was scoring was effortless."
On level of play:
"We have not necessarily played our best all year…Once we put it all together for two 20 minute halves, I think that we are unbeatable."
Seth Trimble
On the team not making mistakes:
"We need to stick to the details that we always focus on. We got away from that in this game, but that usually does not happen with us."
On RJ Davis:
"Special. Every time he put up a shot, I had no doubt in my mind that it was going in. It's special. It's fun to watch."
"He just drives you to want to do the same thing he does. You've seen the success he has had. He's very motivating. He's like a big brother to me."
On playing a close game:
"It reminds us that we need to finish off strong…For a team to come back like that at home definitely wasn't a good sign for us but, you learn things every day. No matter how late in the season, this was a good learning experience for us and we can still grow from it."
Harrison Ingram
On RJ Davis:
"He is him. He had 42. No one else scored in double digits. He put us on his back. I had an off shooting night. Cormac had an off shooting night. They were swarming the paint on Armando. RJ put us on his back and took the game over."
"That might be the best performance I have ever seen by anyone on my team."
"When he hit 30 on the little snatch back on Matthew (Cleveland), I was like oh my God. I was just smiling, thinking, you're nice."
"Everytime he misses anything, I am surprised. When he shoots the ball, everyone assumes it's going in."
Miami Head Coach Jim Larranaga
Opening Statement:
"That was a valiant effort on our part, but RJ Davis had the answer everytime we made a run. He's a fantastic player. Our guys fought very hard. We fell behind late in the game and still made a tremendous effort to come back and made a very exciting ending. I told Bensley Joseph to miss that last free throw. I don't know if that was the right decision or not, looking back on it. Hoping we could get an offensive rebound and score right there at our basket rather than him making the free throw, us still being behind by one with five seconds to go. And trying to force a turnover, get a foul and have to go the length of the court after the foul. So, those decisions are always challenging, but they did a good job finishing. The ending of this game was very similar to the first time we played them."
Men's Basketball
2/26/2024
Dean E. Smith Center
Chapel Hill, N.C.
UNC 75 - Miami 71
Hubert Davis
On RJ Davis:
"It was great to play the way he did on the national scene, but what he did tonight, he's been doing all season. He put the team on his back. It wasn't just points. I thought he was great defensively. He took care of the basketball, distributed, rebounded and boxed out. And, of course, we needed every bit of his 42 tonight."
On doing the little things:
"It's not going to be on Instagram and it's probably not going to be on the news, but we always talk about details and discipline and that the little things make the big things happen. J-Wit [Jae'Lyn Withers] had to step up and make two free throws. J-Wit and Harrison [Ingram] kept the ball alive on free throws. Those are the little things that we talk about on a daily basis that make big things happen."
On RJ Davis' response after an off shooting night at Virginia:
"He gets battered and bruised every game. How do you react and how do you respond after something good or bad happens? I don't think that RJ had a bad game against Virginia, but I knew that he would respond in terms of his ability to shoot and to score. The first five minutes, he was pretty hot and in a really nice rhythm, but it didn't surprise me at all."
On preparation for NC State:
"I'm just thinking about keeping our eyes straight ahead and focusing on what is real for this game. What was real was our preparation against Miami, and now after a day off, our focus and our concentration is on NC State this Saturday."
RJ Davis
On his performance tonight:
"I was aggressive, shots were falling, so it felt good. It's all glory to God. Just how my career has been going from freshman year to now. Just kind of staying down, waiting my turn, for me to have a performance like that tonight means the world to me. I am just locked in. I'm confident in myself and in my shot. I'm also getting open. My teammates are doing a great job of setting screens, and finding me to make these shots. Once I get in my groove like that, it feels like I can't miss. I actually feel like I could have had 50, but I missed free throws and whatnot. I just felt good. The ball felt good, the shots felt good, everything felt great tonight."
On his visions for this season coming true:
"I envisioned the year I wanted to have and the way I have been playing, but I did not envision the crowd chanting my name and whatnot. I think that all comes with just staying in the gym, staying down, waiting my turn and staying confident. I have definitely had an amazing career here, my freshman year up until now. Just to see my progression throughout the years and for me to have a great year my senior year, and kind of just speaking it into existence, it's all happening for me, so I am happy."
Jae'Lyn Withers
On his free throws at the end of the game:
"I was thinking, 'Take us home.' At the end of the day, it's not like it was a contested three that I had to shoot or a tough finish…. I think that [a pressure free throw like that] was a first for me, but free throws are free throws in my eyes."
On RJ Davis:
"He's unbelievable…He has been making history all year. He is, in my eyes, the best player in the nation."
"This summer, he was in the gym more than anybody. I saw it in the summer, the way that he was scoring was effortless."
On level of play:
"We have not necessarily played our best all year…Once we put it all together for two 20 minute halves, I think that we are unbeatable."
Seth Trimble
On the team not making mistakes:
"We need to stick to the details that we always focus on. We got away from that in this game, but that usually does not happen with us."
On RJ Davis:
"Special. Every time he put up a shot, I had no doubt in my mind that it was going in. It's special. It's fun to watch."
"He just drives you to want to do the same thing he does. You've seen the success he has had. He's very motivating. He's like a big brother to me."
On playing a close game:
"It reminds us that we need to finish off strong…For a team to come back like that at home definitely wasn't a good sign for us but, you learn things every day. No matter how late in the season, this was a good learning experience for us and we can still grow from it."
Harrison Ingram
On RJ Davis:
"He is him. He had 42. No one else scored in double digits. He put us on his back. I had an off shooting night. Cormac had an off shooting night. They were swarming the paint on Armando. RJ put us on his back and took the game over."
"That might be the best performance I have ever seen by anyone on my team."
"When he hit 30 on the little snatch back on Matthew (Cleveland), I was like oh my God. I was just smiling, thinking, you're nice."
"Everytime he misses anything, I am surprised. When he shoots the ball, everyone assumes it's going in."
Miami Head Coach Jim Larranaga
Opening Statement:
"That was a valiant effort on our part, but RJ Davis had the answer everytime we made a run. He's a fantastic player. Our guys fought very hard. We fell behind late in the game and still made a tremendous effort to come back and made a very exciting ending. I told Bensley Joseph to miss that last free throw. I don't know if that was the right decision or not, looking back on it. Hoping we could get an offensive rebound and score right there at our basket rather than him making the free throw, us still being behind by one with five seconds to go. And trying to force a turnover, get a foul and have to go the length of the court after the foul. So, those decisions are always challenging, but they did a good job finishing. The ending of this game was very similar to the first time we played them."
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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