University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
UNC-Duke Postgame Quotes
February 7, 2026 | Men's Basketball
POSTGAME QUOTES
UNC 71, DUKE 68
FEBRUARY 7, 2026
DEAN E. SMITH CENTER, CHAPEL HILL, N.C.
UNC Head Coach Hubert Davis
On Seth shooting the winning shot…
"He was the one. Because, during this time of NIL and transfer portal, having a kid as accomplished as Seth to stay at one school for four years… That shot was made by the perfect person at the right time. He's deserving of being remembered forever because of the commitment and the devotion that he's made to his teammates, to this program, to this university, to his community. Couldn't have gone to a better person."
On what was said to help lead the team in the second half…
"No, it's all them. Nothing by me, nothing. The wins go to them and the losses go to me. It is what it is, and it's all them."
On the team's grit and toughness…
"It's great ammunition for me to let them know [...] what it looks like, what perseverance looks like, what toughness looks like, what staying and sticking together looks like, what being a team looks like. [...] great examples of all that for these guys to cling to, lean on to allow us to reach our full potential as a team."
Duke Head Coach Jon Scheyer
On the game overall…
"Carolina, they played a great game to win, and that's a heartbreaking loss for our team."
On Duke's preparation…
"I thought our guys were incredibly ready to play throughout the entire game. Really we were in control of the game. I think you look at this sequence, we're up seven and we give up three consecutive threes. I think that's a clear point you can look at, just our defense has to be better, and we have to be stronger with the ball. You know, we'll learn from this. We'll grow from this."
On Carolina…
"Congrats to Carolina for just clawing and fighting back and making one more play than we did down the stretch."
UNC Guard Derek Dixon on being a part of such an iconic rivalry…
"I mean, you always dream about it. You come to Carolina for this rivalry. You know, that's what it's all about. But this is beyond anything I could ever imagine. It's really special."
On the message at halftime…
"Just to stay poised, stay confident. We've been down before. We were down by 12 in the first half, came back. We were down by 12 at halftime, came back, just continue to chip away and just be comfortable."
On staying calm at the end of a close game…
"I've been there before in this atmosphere at Kentucky…having the experience down the stretch of Virginia, you know, just trying to just try to build on those experiences and just trying to make the right play."
UNC Forward Caleb Wilson
On getting the win after all of his motivations…
"It was a great win, but it's a long season. I'm glad we got the win, and I feel like this is a great step in the right direction for us as a team and me individually."
On his energy in the huddle during the first half…
"I was excited, frustrated, because it got off to a slow start, and we need a team to win. You know, it can't just be me. It can't just be Seth (Trimble). It can't be just Henri (Veesaar), you know. So I felt like we just had to band together and get the win."
On the teams fight tonight…
"It just shows that we're hungry. Everybody overlooked us. Nobody thought we were gonna win this game. We're hungry."
On what Seth Trimble means to the team…
"He's a great leader and he gets it done. That's all I can say about Seth. He's my guy."
UNC Guard Seth Trimble
On what Carolina means to him…
"This university means so much to me. It was the biggest point was to represent the University of North Carolina today, and we didn't really do that for 32 minutes of the game, but those last eight minutes, those last four minutes, whatever you want to call it, we did that."
On the game winning moment and the emotion…
"It's crazy. It's crazy. You dream stuff like this as a kid. You dream of stuff like this even as a grown man before you go to sleep, then, man, I never would have thought that would have been me."
On why he came back to North Carolina…
"Oh, it's everything. It's everything. I mean, you don't get that in the SEC unless it's Auburn and Alabama, and that's…you just don't get this. It's something special. And once you get here, you get glued into it."
On the win…
"We were down that whole game. We maybe didn't even deserve to win that game, but the effort that we gave those last six minutes was incredible, and for that reason, we absolutely deserve it."
UNC Forward Jarin Stevenson
On shooting and making big plays late…
"Yeah, we had to dig real deep. Duke again, is a great team. But yeah, I feel like our guys, we put in a lot of work, and I knew that. I know we didn't start off the best, but I knew our guys had it in us, and we made big plays down the stretch."
On Seth Trimble's game winning shot…
"I saw him shoot it, and it was going straight into the net. So it was a great feeling. As soon as he made it, I was running after him. I thought the game was over too."
On what the win says about the team…
"Yeah, I think this is a statement. We haven't been the best in some of our games. We have, like, three losses in conference. So I feel like this is a big statement, that we are here in conference, and we can make these big plays and big wins."
UNC Center Henri Veesar on Seth hitting the last shot…
"Last shot couldn't've gone to a better guy. He's been here four years. He put in the most blood, sweat and tears. He's our whole program. He's been a leader for us since we got here. He was that one returning starter. So him being able to hit that shot… Man, I'm so happy for him, and just seeing that emotion and everybody just being able to celebrate that great moment all together."
On his success in the second half…
"The first half, I didn't really get many touches besides offensive rebounds or a couple on the top. But in the second half, I got a ball and the block. And I was just able to go to work, and the coaches trusted me, so good things came out."
On the team's resilience…
At halftime, being down 12 and being able to stay calm. I feel like that was the biggest part of it, before we're missing but today, we stayed calm. We just kept stacking good four minutes. Good four minutes every media. We cut it back down…cut it back down. Cut it back down by two, three points, just being able to do that. It's amazing."
On the rivalry game living up to the hype…
"The atmosphere before the game, I think everybody was in their seats, like 10-15, minutes before the game, and there was not a single seat open. So just being able to see how much it means to everybody is amazing."
UNC 71, DUKE 68
FEBRUARY 7, 2026
DEAN E. SMITH CENTER, CHAPEL HILL, N.C.
UNC Head Coach Hubert Davis
On Seth shooting the winning shot…
"He was the one. Because, during this time of NIL and transfer portal, having a kid as accomplished as Seth to stay at one school for four years… That shot was made by the perfect person at the right time. He's deserving of being remembered forever because of the commitment and the devotion that he's made to his teammates, to this program, to this university, to his community. Couldn't have gone to a better person."
On what was said to help lead the team in the second half…
"No, it's all them. Nothing by me, nothing. The wins go to them and the losses go to me. It is what it is, and it's all them."
On the team's grit and toughness…
"It's great ammunition for me to let them know [...] what it looks like, what perseverance looks like, what toughness looks like, what staying and sticking together looks like, what being a team looks like. [...] great examples of all that for these guys to cling to, lean on to allow us to reach our full potential as a team."
Duke Head Coach Jon Scheyer
On the game overall…
"Carolina, they played a great game to win, and that's a heartbreaking loss for our team."
On Duke's preparation…
"I thought our guys were incredibly ready to play throughout the entire game. Really we were in control of the game. I think you look at this sequence, we're up seven and we give up three consecutive threes. I think that's a clear point you can look at, just our defense has to be better, and we have to be stronger with the ball. You know, we'll learn from this. We'll grow from this."
On Carolina…
"Congrats to Carolina for just clawing and fighting back and making one more play than we did down the stretch."
UNC Guard Derek Dixon on being a part of such an iconic rivalry…
"I mean, you always dream about it. You come to Carolina for this rivalry. You know, that's what it's all about. But this is beyond anything I could ever imagine. It's really special."
On the message at halftime…
"Just to stay poised, stay confident. We've been down before. We were down by 12 in the first half, came back. We were down by 12 at halftime, came back, just continue to chip away and just be comfortable."
On staying calm at the end of a close game…
"I've been there before in this atmosphere at Kentucky…having the experience down the stretch of Virginia, you know, just trying to just try to build on those experiences and just trying to make the right play."
UNC Forward Caleb Wilson
On getting the win after all of his motivations…
"It was a great win, but it's a long season. I'm glad we got the win, and I feel like this is a great step in the right direction for us as a team and me individually."
On his energy in the huddle during the first half…
"I was excited, frustrated, because it got off to a slow start, and we need a team to win. You know, it can't just be me. It can't just be Seth (Trimble). It can't be just Henri (Veesaar), you know. So I felt like we just had to band together and get the win."
On the teams fight tonight…
"It just shows that we're hungry. Everybody overlooked us. Nobody thought we were gonna win this game. We're hungry."
On what Seth Trimble means to the team…
"He's a great leader and he gets it done. That's all I can say about Seth. He's my guy."
UNC Guard Seth Trimble
On what Carolina means to him…
"This university means so much to me. It was the biggest point was to represent the University of North Carolina today, and we didn't really do that for 32 minutes of the game, but those last eight minutes, those last four minutes, whatever you want to call it, we did that."
On the game winning moment and the emotion…
"It's crazy. It's crazy. You dream stuff like this as a kid. You dream of stuff like this even as a grown man before you go to sleep, then, man, I never would have thought that would have been me."
On why he came back to North Carolina…
"Oh, it's everything. It's everything. I mean, you don't get that in the SEC unless it's Auburn and Alabama, and that's…you just don't get this. It's something special. And once you get here, you get glued into it."
On the win…
"We were down that whole game. We maybe didn't even deserve to win that game, but the effort that we gave those last six minutes was incredible, and for that reason, we absolutely deserve it."
UNC Forward Jarin Stevenson
On shooting and making big plays late…
"Yeah, we had to dig real deep. Duke again, is a great team. But yeah, I feel like our guys, we put in a lot of work, and I knew that. I know we didn't start off the best, but I knew our guys had it in us, and we made big plays down the stretch."
On Seth Trimble's game winning shot…
"I saw him shoot it, and it was going straight into the net. So it was a great feeling. As soon as he made it, I was running after him. I thought the game was over too."
On what the win says about the team…
"Yeah, I think this is a statement. We haven't been the best in some of our games. We have, like, three losses in conference. So I feel like this is a big statement, that we are here in conference, and we can make these big plays and big wins."
UNC Center Henri Veesar on Seth hitting the last shot…
"Last shot couldn't've gone to a better guy. He's been here four years. He put in the most blood, sweat and tears. He's our whole program. He's been a leader for us since we got here. He was that one returning starter. So him being able to hit that shot… Man, I'm so happy for him, and just seeing that emotion and everybody just being able to celebrate that great moment all together."
On his success in the second half…
"The first half, I didn't really get many touches besides offensive rebounds or a couple on the top. But in the second half, I got a ball and the block. And I was just able to go to work, and the coaches trusted me, so good things came out."
On the team's resilience…
At halftime, being down 12 and being able to stay calm. I feel like that was the biggest part of it, before we're missing but today, we stayed calm. We just kept stacking good four minutes. Good four minutes every media. We cut it back down…cut it back down. Cut it back down by two, three points, just being able to do that. It's amazing."
On the rivalry game living up to the hype…
"The atmosphere before the game, I think everybody was in their seats, like 10-15, minutes before the game, and there was not a single seat open. So just being able to see how much it means to everybody is amazing."
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballCarolina Insider: Rapid Reactions pres. by Modelo – Men’s Basketball vs. Duke – February 7, 2026
Sunday, February 08
UNC Men's Basketball: Trimble's Three-Pointer Beats Duke, 71-68
Sunday, February 08
Rapid Reactions pres. by Modelo – Men’s Basketball vs. Duke – February 7, 2026
Saturday, February 07
UNC Men's Lacrosse: Tar Heels Defeat Jacksonville in Season Opener, 11-10
Saturday, February 07