North Carolina coach Hubert Davis chose to downplay the significance of his team's Saturday showdown at No. 2 Duke following the Tar Heels' dispiriting 73-65 loss at Pittsburgh on Tuesday night. The defeat was UNC's third in its last four games and raises the stakes of the upcoming rivalry game for a team that is scrambling to assemble an NCAA Tournament resume.

Going into this game, there has been an alarming stat regarding the Tar Heels in Quad 1 games under Hubert Davis in four seasons. And they have flat-out struggled in those opportunities. Bryan Ives posted on X that North Carolina is 20-30 in Quad 1 games in the four seasons under Hubert Davis,

Fourth-year UNC basketball head coach Hubert Davis was far from talkative in his press conference after his Tar Heels, who began the season garnering high expectations at No. 9 in the AP Top 25 Poll, fell to 12-8 overall and 5-3 in ACC play via their 67-66 road loss to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (15-4, 7-1 ACC) on Tuesday night.