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,

For UNC, the late collapse Tuesday night at Pitt was “kind of like the same movie over and over again,” RJ Davis said. The Tar Heels are becoming familiar with an uncomfortable new reality.

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.