Dec 2, 2025; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Hubert Davis watches the action across the court during the second half against the Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Specific Areas Hubert Davis Wants the Tar Heels to Improve

Originally posted on North Carolina Tar Heels on SI
By Logan Lazarczyk | Last updated Dec 11, 2025 2:00 PM ET

Each and every year, head coaches relay to their players what their statistical goals are for that respective season. Some of these goals may correlate with the personnel of the roster, while other goals may simply be expectations for any group of players, regardless of skill and talent.

Monday was the first episode of the annual radio show that Hubert Davis appears on throughout the season. Each episode occurs on the first day of the week. The fifth-year head coach explained what areas he wants to see his team continue to grow in with conference play opening up later this month.

Davis' Thoughts

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"I feel like this team is really buying into what’s most important for us, in regard to being a really good defensive team,” Davis said.

“For us to get to where we want to become, we have to be great defensively," Davis continued. "We’ve got length, we’ve got versatility, we’ve got size. And I feel like the team is, every day, understanding more and more how important it is to get after it defensively. And also, rebounding the basketball. That’s something that we desperately wanted to improve on from last year, especially offensive rebounding.”

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The Tar Heels have met the standards for both of these metrics. North Carolina has not allowed a single opponent to surpass 74 points this season. Through the first nine games in 2024, the Tar Heels allowed 76 points or more in six of their first nine games of the season. It is safe to say that the additions this offseason have flipped the script for North Carolina in 2025.

In terms of rebounding, the Tar Heels are averaging 43.4 boards per game, which is nearly seven more per game than last season. The arrivals of Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar have been monumental in both of those departments.

"The next thing forward for us defensively is protecting the paint,” Davis said. “I thought we did that in the second half against Georgetown. That’s something that we wanted to get better at.”

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North Carolina's last two games have been perfect examples of the team struggling in the first half in this aspect, but maintaining the mental fortitude to correct those issues in the second half.

Against Kentucky, the Tar Heels allowed 42 points in the paint, but 28 of those occurred in the first half. On Sunday, Georgetown scored 22 points in the paint in the first half, but North Carolina closed that off in the second half, as the Hoyas totaled 10 paint points in the final 20 minutes.

Obviously, the Tar Heels still have room to grow and are not a perfect product. However, if the defense continues to hold up, North Carolina can compete in any game on the schedule.

This article first appeared on North Carolina Tar Heels on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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