UNC Basketball Player Following Another Defeat: 'We Feel Hungry Now'

The UNC basketball team's back-to-back losses spark a new sense of urgency.

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The unranked Michigan State Spartans (5-2, 0-0 Big Ten) were without one double-digit scorer, Jase Richardson (head), for their Maui Invitational finale against the now-reeling UNC basketball squad in the event's third-place game on Wednesday night. Even so, as has consistently been the case this season, Hubert Davis' fourth batch of Tar Heels, currently No. 12 in the AP Top 25 but sure to experience a considerable drop, struggled mightily in the first half.

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After trailing by as many as 14 points late in the first half, marking the team's third double-digit first-half deficit in as many outings in Maui, UNC climbed back a bit to make it 43-34 entering the break. And a better version of the Tar Heels surfaced in the second half, ultimately forcing overtime before falling to the Spartans, 94-91.

Afterward, UNC basketball sophomore point guard and full-time starter Elliot Cadeau touched on the Tar Heels' issues and pointed to a newfound sense of hunger stemming from the back-to-back losses in wrapping up their disappointing 2-2 stretch in Hawaii:

"I feel like we feel hungry now. We know that nothing is gonna be given to us, and we just learned a lot from it. I think the main thing we learned from it was our toughness just has to be better. Like, we have to be more tough.

"And I feel like we're gonna start bringing that every day in practice. We have to. We have no choice."

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