“We’re going to [Duke] with everything we’ve got.” — Harrison Ingram
Tuesday’s 74-73 loss to Georgia Tech ended North Carolina’s 10-game winning run. RJ Davis attempted a game-winning field goal with one second remaining in regulation, but it was unsuccessful due to Yellow Jackets big Ebenezer Dowuona’s touch. The impact of the defeat on the team’s mindset was discussed by Davis, Armando Bacot, and Harrison Ingram as UNC gets ready for its big home game against rival Duke on Saturday.
“We must fully absorb this one,” Bacot remarked following the match. “We need to let go of this one and move on tomorrow at practice. Next Saturday is an important game for us. For that, we need to be prepared. I really want everyone to process what occurred, experience it, and be ready to perform on Saturday.”
The Tar Heels trio went in-depth on what went wrong in Atlanta and how they can right the ship before Saturday’s game. They also revealed their thoughts on the controversial no-call on Davis’ final shot, among other things. Here’s what Bacot, Davis and Ingram had to say after the Georgia Tech loss:
INITIAL THOUGHTS ON THE LOSS TO GEORGIA TECH
Bacot: “It was tough. I definitely didn’t want to come in and lose. We just have to learn from it and grow. In games like this, we got to come in with a killer mentality, and we got to put them away. First half, we went up 11. That’s when we got to show our killer instinct. We let them stick around and hit tough shots. I got switched onto the guard at the end, and he made a tough, left-hand floater.”
Davis: “It was undoubtedly difficult. You wouldn’t want to lose at this kind of game. Georgia Tech deserves praise for outperforming us. Our defensive rotations, in my opinion, were lacking. It was taking us a while to reach the ball. I’m to blame for that. They were able to dump it down low to the big or make easy layups as a result. In the first half, we made a lot of dumb mistakes and poor shots.”
Ingram: “We didn’t do well. I emerged unhappily. I shot 3-of-14 from the field; the game was awful overall. More than we did, they desired it. They emerged more forcefully. They exerted more effort towards the end. Their play had increased in intensity. Each stray ball belonged to them. They were just playing tougher than us, rebounding and all. When we were getting ready for Georgia Tech, their pick and roll was the first thing we really discussed. We were unable to halt it throughout the entire game as they were running it. I wasn’t really giving it my all. I didn’t provide the team any enthusiasm. I lost because I didn’t play well in the end.”
ABOUT THE TEAM’S MANAGEMENT OF THE LOSS DUKE LOOMING
Bacot: “We must fully digest this one. At practice tomorrow, we’ll be able to let go of this one and go on. Next Saturday is an important game for us. For that, we need to be prepared. Fortunately, we still have another day to go out and play because the season isn’t done. Big game this Saturday. I really want everyone to process what occurred, experience it, and be ready to perform on Saturday.”
Ingram: “It hurts, but it’s a good wake-up call for us. We hadn’t lost in a while. I rather it happen now than later on. Thursday, we need to come out with a great practice and go hard for probably two hours and go at it. Really, just get back to the drawing board. Games like this happen. We’re all veteran players. We’re all mature. For us, it is going back to the drawing board and just realizing it is one game and not to dwell on it too much.”
ON WHAT THE TEAM IS TAKING AWAY FROM THEIR PERFORMANCE
Bacot: “Our identity all year has been just playing hard and being gritty, and they just did a better job of that than us. It’s a bad feeling. It’s terrible. You never want to lose. Nobody wants to lose. We just have to learn and grow from it. We have to have more urgency. We need to do a better job of coming together and taking over. We had a five-minute stretch where we didn’t score. We just can’t let that happen. We got to find it early.”
Davis: “Sometimes you got to get knocked down a little bit just to see how you respond. This could be a testament. This game was kind of needed, but it’s definitely a game we should not have lost.”
Ingram: “I think we’re going to come into Saturday with as much energy as we’ve had since the season started. We are going to come out, and we’re going to practice hard Thursday and Friday and get back to the drawing board. Just the little details, boxing out, playing harder and just getting that chip back on our shoulder. They wanted it more than us. We haven’t had a game where the team wanted it more than us. They took it from us.”