Hubert Davis Bashes Team for Lack of Effort After UNC's Loss to Kansas

North Carolina and Kansas were part of an epic showdown on Friday night. The Tar Heels went to Allen Fieldhouse to take on the Jayhawks for their toughest game on the schedule.

Despite the 92-89 loss, UNC's second-half comeback drew a ton of attention this morning. Against the No. 1 team in the country, the Tar Heels clawed their way back to the game after falling behind 20 points in the first half.

Head coach Hubert Davis praised his players after the game, saying he was proud of the team's performance in the second half. However, he also didn't hold back from criticizing the player's efforts on the defensive end in the first half.

"I mean, they shot 60 percent against us in the first half. They were getting everything that they wanted. They were running their offense like they do in shootaround. They were getting 3s, they were getting layups, they were getting dunks, they were getting to the free throw line. Didn't feel any pressure or physicality from us, from the defensive end."

- UNC head coach Hubert Davis

Saying that the team wasn't playing hard or physically enough, Davis highlighted the fact that they made things easy for Kansas in the first half. This was evident by the foul trouble Kansas bigs put the Tar Heels in. As a result, the Jayhawks were able to score 53 points in the first half.

UNC was able to hold Kansas to 39 points in the second half, doing a much better job at slowing 7-foot-2 Hunter Dickinson down without fouling.

It was a promising sign for the Tar Heels to be able to come back and take the lead against the best team in the country. They could have won the game if RJ Davis wasn't having such a poor shooting day, finishing the game 3/15 from the field.

However, they have to bring the same level of defensive intensity they brought to the second half for the entire 40 minutes.

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