UNC Basketball: No Excuses for Puzzling Drop in Tar Heel Enthusiasm

Emotions surrounding the Duke-UNC basketball game shouldn't have caused two Tar Heel losses, but perhaps that was the case.

Photo credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

UNC basketball snapped its 10-game winning streak in a "trap game" at unranked Georgia Tech ahead of Saturday night's rivalry bout against now-No. 9 Duke. Then, rather than build on the home victory over the Blue Devils, the No. 3 Tar Heels (18-5, 10-2 ACC) sputtered versus unranked Clemson (15-7, 5-6 ACC) on Tuesday night.

Sure, UNC recovered from its 15-2 deficit to the Tigers in the Dean E. Smith Center, where the Clemson had prevailed only once before, as the Tar Heels outscored the visitors, 74-65, the rest of the way. Even so, Hubert Davis' third squad in Chapel Hill never led and ultimately fell, 80-76, leaving fans utterly dumbfounded by the effort.

Several players noted to the media afterward that the group's focus had been lacking this week, to the tune of an abysmal practice on Monday, a lackluster shootaround on Tuesday morning, and some inexcusable late arrivals to pre-game warmups.

"We got what we deserved," admitted fifth-year UNC center Armando Bacot, who finished with a team-high 24 points and 13 rebounds.

Speaking of inexcusable lethargy, that was the overriding theme of Davis' statements in his post-game press conference as the 53-year-old looks for more passion from his bunch in preparation for the rest of their slate.

"It's how you react and how you respond," Davis said. "We'll go back to work. And as I've said before, there's two things that you can do: you can whine and complain and point fingers and make excuses, or you can get back up and move forward and join the fight.

"And for us, it's never a choice. It's a requirement for us to get back up, and let's get back to work."

NEXT UNC BASKETBALL GAME: at unranked Miami (15-8, 6-6 ACC), 4 p.m. ET Saturday (ESPN)

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