CBS SPORTS CLASSIC: NORTH CAROLINA VS. OHIO STATE

December 20, 2025

Hubert Davis

State Farm Arena

North Carolina Tar Heels

Press Conference

North Carolina 71, Ohio State 70

Q. Talk us through that last time-out and what was going on as Ohio State (indiscernible)?

HUBERT DAVIS: Which possession are you referencing?

Q. The one where you got the put-back.

HUBERT DAVIS: Yeah, we were down by one and we picked up full court and they were told to aggressively try to get a steal in the backcourt.

If you don't get it and get it to the front court, then we're going to have to foul, and they knew which guys to try to foul. The hard thing, one of the many hard things with Ohio State is they're a great free-throw shooting team, so it wasn't a great choice but we were able to get the steal.

We had a time-out left, and in that situation Seth's ability to be able to create a shot for himself and for others is the best on the team from the perimeter. Putting the ball in his hands and kind of cleared out that side. They did a good job defensively but he was able to find Henri around the basket and be able to score.

We talked about it in the huddle. Just two and a half hours ago if we say all we need to do is for four seconds play great defense to get a stop and get a win, would you take that, and they said yes. I said, well, that's the reality. That's all we have to do. We were fortunate enough to come away with the win.

Q. How important is Jarin's versatility for you guys? How important is he in his ability to switch and do everything that he can?

HUBERT DAVIS: Absolutely. Just huge. I've talked about his versatility. I'll be honest with you, Devin Royal is real. I mean, just his ability to be able to score. He's not rushed. He's strong. Plays off two feet. The only person that could really make him work to get a good shot was Jarin.

And so to have that guy who's 6'9", 6'10", versatility, being able to play in the post and on the outside offensively but from a defensive standpoint to be able to switch and play multiple positions, a huge factor for us.

Q. Hubert, with Seth being back in there, how much does that open up just not only the on-court play but the different lines that you do have, being able to utilize guys in different spots? How much does Seth open things up for you guys?

HUBERT DAVIS: Yeah, it does, it opens things up, gives us versatility to be able to do different things that are specific for each game.

This game it was -- I talked about Devin Royal, but there's really only one guy on our team that had any chance of getting a stop on Bruce Thornton, and that was Seth.

Having him in the lineup was huge. Obviously he's gifted, being able to -- I felt like in transition, it's the first time that we've gotten pitch-ahead dunks and lay-ups in a while. So we've got to get back to that because that's a huge part of our offense, is being able to sprint to the offensive end.

Q. You put Jonathan in for Derek late and you forced that turnover. Is Seth being back allowing you a little bit more flexibility to be able to do things like that situationally and (indiscernible) you got Jarin was three best players out there?

HUBERT DAVIS: 100 percent. Jonathan is a big guard, 6'6", 6'7", and his ability to defend is huge for us. But having Seth back and having him be able to, quote-unquote, run the point and even have a bigger lineup is something that we haven't had since he's been gone.

So it's something that we can look at, and to your point, just the versatility of lineups that we can do in just different situations to put ourselves in a position to possibly win.

Q. What were you trying to take away, and what (concerned you on that final play)?

HUBERT DAVIS: Well, first of all, with Bruce taking the ball out, a lot of times the most dangerous person is the person taking the ball out, so just being alert and aware of his ability to be able to score.

Also in four seconds, that's a lot of time. So their strength not only to score but to get fouled and get to the free-throw line was of concern. We switched everything. We had a lineup in there that we could switch everything and feel good about the one-on-one matchup, and we were able to get it done and get a stop.

Q. Another question was his three-point shooting. He's been working on that this off-season. What's it going to open up for your offense if he's able to add that?

HUBERT DAVIS: Yeah, not just Seth. I really believe that we can be a really great three-point shooting team. Thus far, we haven't been that good, and that's something that I'm waiting for because I just feel like we have a number of guys that can consistently make shots from the outside, and that's going to be huge for us. It's going to be huge for us because of having Henri and Caleb down on the post, they're going to get even more attention. They were double-teamed pretty much every time we threw the ball into the post.

The only way you can loosen that up is to be able to shoot from the perimeter.

Q. What is it that Seth does to make the transition game so much better? It looked like --

HUBERT DAVIS: He runs faster. He does. The way that he gets out on the break, he can get a defensive stop. He can get a rebound, and within three to four steps, he's across half court and he's gone.

Just having one person pulls everybody along, and then when they see Seth getting those pitch-ahead lay-ups, everybody wants to score, so then they start running. It's contagious, and it was nice to see that back in our offense today.