UNC-Stanford Postgame Quotes

POSTGAME QUOTES
UNC 71, STANFORD 72
JANUARY 18, 2025
DEAN E. SMITH CENTER, CHAPEL HILL, N.C.

UNC Head Coach Hubert Davis
On mistakes down the stretch…
"I felt like today wasn't one thing. I felt like there were a number of little details or mistakes that we made throughout the entire game. On both ends of the floor, whether it was execution defensively, out of bounds, underneath, ball screen coverage, closeouts and the take two guys… I just felt like it was a culmination of little things. I always say little things lead to big things happening. I felt that those little things, little mistakes, led to big things happening today which resulted in a loss."

On the team's game plan for the last two possessions…
"It's the same communication that I had in regards to the similar situations against UCLA, N.C. State and Notre Dame. Whatever it takes, we've got to get a stop and we have got to finish the possession with a rebound. I haven't looked at it but, we had a man on man, he took it the length of the floor, rose up, took a step back and knocked it down. You have to give Blakes credit for being able to make that shot in that situation, and it resulted in us losing."

On the final play call…
"It wasn't much time, it was [1.5] seconds so trying to get something near the basket to be able to put it in. I haven't looked at that last play, but I felt the ball curved and went off center and went straight out of bounds or close to out of bounds, so that's what I remember."

On a lackluster performance following up the win against California…
"Basketball is no different than life. There are going to be rainy days and sunny days, so we didn't make enough plays to win the game. Let's look back at it and see if we can learn from it and grow from it. And then move on to the next game against Wake Forest on Tuesday. I don't know what else you can do other than that."

On his post-game message in the locker room…
"We just made too many little mistakes. One of the big things after a game, irregardless of a win or a loss, I try to keep my comments to a minimum. Coach Smith and Guthridge always did that, and I want to be able to let things sink in and process, and be able to look at the tape so I can be more definitive and be able to back it up… We made too many little mistakes throughout the stretch that led to us being in this situation, and this time we didn't come out on the other end"

Stanford Head Coach Kyle Smith
On beating Carolina for the first time in program history…
"Any time you have the opportunity to beat a team like North Carolina… in my previous stop we had a couple wins like that, and they're special, no doubt. I told them: 'We're not gonna get any breaks You're gonna have to earn their respect'. And I think that what they did – we came out there and we competed hard at Wake and then brought a great effort– getting a win like that, it's nice to be associated with. To be associated with Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest, NC State, all these teams, [and] this league is pretty special."

Ven-Allen Lubin
On how they lost the game…
"I believe it's all in the little details, that we all committed mistakes, that kind of led up to points and led up to bad positions on the offensive end. It's those mistakes that really hurt us and cost us to get us into this position right here. But really, you know, we, I believe that we played hard, you know, maybe did everything that we could, and played through the mistakes and just gave it our all."

On his perspective on areas where the details could have been a little cleaner…
"You know, just the little details that really cost us that led up to points, that led us to making small areas of mistakes, you know, I think that's really what hurt us down the stretch. So, there's some things that we just got tied up with screws and continue to learn from it, and just make sure we get better at it."

On the main point of emphasis for Maxime Raynaud and trying to limit his access…
"Yeah, just trying to deal with a tough night. We gave him a long night, just being able to contain him, make tough shots, just be able to guard him one on one. And to make sure that he doesn't put up just a bunch of numbers up there. And so I believe we did that for the most part. You know, he's a very skilled player. So it's kind of hard to do when you have a 7'2" guy who can step out, space the floor and put the ball on the floor. That's difficult to contain. But I believe that we did our best and will continue to improve on it."

On making it an emphasis for Lubin to work with Washington on the five spot and allowing RJ and Elliot to find them for layups and dunks…
"Kind of making an easy play, just read the defender, what they're giving us. And I think that what they gave us, they were able to hit me and Wash in the pocket pass and be able to roll, because that really helped me a lot."

Seth Trimble
On the team's performance…
"Stanford, they played a great game, but I think a lot of it is what we didn't do. But you know, we'll see tomorrow, looking back at the film…I don't think our effort was all the way up where it should have been, the little details, you know, knowing how to scout, knowing what they do, and they got about six to eight points in the same out of bounds play, just the little details."

On the need for the team to bounce back before Tuesday's matchup…
"We got to get back from this game, got to recover. Got to get back up on our feet and just continue to get that extra effort that has been winning this game. So we just got to regroup."

On the point of the game where Stanford had a very strong defensive rhythm…
"I may have, but, I mean, we were expecting it. We got good looks off of it. So we can't use that as an excuse. You know, seeing that throw everything off. But, I mean, maybe it did to some guys. But I feel like we played well against them."

RJ Davis
On whether or not they took Stanford lightly…
"No, not at all. We knew coming into the game that they were a really great team, and we don't take anyone lightly. I just think we weren't attentive with our details. We had a lot of slip-up plays in the second half, and kind of just weren't as aggressive from a defense standpoint. We weren't really into the ball. There wasn't as much communication, and I think that kind of just led on to plays that they were able to execute off of."

On if there was an inability to "hit the next" gear…
"I kind of felt it. I think we had like a three-point lead, and I kind of felt the energy shift–the momentum shift– to our side a little bit, and I thought we [were] going to be able to go on a run and extend the lead. But it didn't favor us today; we weren't able to extend off that lead. It just felt like that the whole second half, it was just trading baskets and baskets, and it came down to the wire of the game. WE have to go back to the drawing board and reflect on the second half– like the last five minutes– because that's where things got a little bit sloppy and our attention to detail wasn't there."

On whether or not this loss was different from those at Louisville, Florida, and Kansas…
"I think it was kind of the same. It's just our focus and the details [weren't] there. I think sometimes we relax a little bit [when] we have a lead, we see the score. We took our foot off the gas a little bit, or it's kind of a delay on defense. We're one second behind on the communications, or we give up a strong side three, or we're not jumping on pump fakes. Little plays like that kind of lead into big leads for both the teams… And we know we're capable of being better and not making those mistakes. We just have to do it on a persistent basis."

On if it's frustrating to keep losing at the final stretch…
"I feel like we were trending in the right direction, right? I would say my frustration level is kind of just because I know we're so talented and so capable of really many big things. I just think our discipline and our detail is one area that we have to consistently keep sharpening. I think at times we show glimpses of it, and at times we show stretches of it, but it has to be on a consistent basis. Especially at this level because it could be anyone's game–like we saw tonight– and basketball's a game of runs. The game is never over until the clock hits zero, so that's something that we have to instill in our brains going forward."

Scoreboard Slider

University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

RJ Davis

Ven-Allen Lubin

Seth Trimble

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