1. North Carolina Tar Heels: Hubert Davis was 20 minutes from the national title as his Tar Heels had a 15-point halftime lead on Kansas…

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NEW ORLEANS – North Carolina’s head coach Hubert Davis met with the media Thursday afternoon at Caesars Superdome in advance of their game versus Duke on Saturday in the national semifinal matchup at the Final Four.

Eighth-seeded UNC and the second-seeded Blue Devils will tip off at approximately 8:49 PM EST on Saturday. The Tar Heels are 28-9 and have won ten of their last 11 games, while Duke is 32-6 and has won seven of their last nine contests.

Here is the video and complete transcript of the press conference:

THE MODERATOR: We’re now joined by the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels Hubert Davis. Coach Davis is ready for your questions.

Q. Obviously, Coach K is the wily vet when it comes to Final Fours. This being your first time, I wanted to know, A, how you’re preparing for your first Final Four as a head coach, and have you gotten any advice coming into this?

HUBERT DAVIS: Well, in terms of preparation, it’s the same way that we have prepared all year. There’s no difference. The way that we’re preparing for Saturday is the way that we prepared for Brown earlier in the year and against Georgia Tech in our first ACC regular season game.

One of the things that I preach to the team all the time is to focus on what is real and what allows us to be the best that we can be, and what is real and what allows us to be the best that we can be is focusing on our preparation for Saturday, our practice, and our play. And those are the only things we’re talking about. Those are the only things that we’re looking at. And that’s going to put us in a position to play our best on Saturday night.

Q. You as a former player who’s been to the Final Four, who played at North Carolina, I’m curious how valuable that has been for you when you were trying to work — get a message across to players both during the regular season and maybe in a moment like this that you’ve been in their shoes, you understand the challenges they face?

HUBERT DAVIS: Well, the first day of practice I had put a picture of the Superdome in their locker. I didn’t want them to dwell on that, but I wanted them to see where we’re going and what we’re fighting for and why we’re practicing so hard, why we’re preparing, and what is going to be required of us to have a chance to be there.

That’s all that we have done all season. That’s all we’re doing right now. I’ve said a number of times that you’re going to have to turn down and turn off the noise from the phone, the family, the friends, and the fans. I feel like our guys have really done a really good job of that, and they’re in a great spot and a great position to be at their best on Saturday night.

Q. Coach Davis, 40 years ago North Carolina won the first Final Four hosted in New Orleans with Michael Jordan and James Worthy and then won again here in 1993. How special is it to be back in New Orleans again? And are you using previous Final Fours here to energize your team?

HUBERT DAVIS: Well, I have told the team that we’ve won, this program has won two championships here in this building, and there’s significance in that.

I remember the ’82 championship game, and me only being able to see the second half because I had a boy scout meeting and I had missed the first half. I remember in ’93 it was a group of guys that I had played with. I was a rookie in the NBA, and we were playing the Atlanta Hawks, and I was on the road with my New York Knicks team watching the Carolina team play Michigan. I remember feeling two powerful emotions, joy and happiness because they won, but also sadness because I wanted to be there.

I had always wanted to cut down the nets and be a national champion at North Carolina, and I didn’t have that opportunity. It’s unbelievable that I had an opportunity as an assistant coach in 2017, and that’s something that I want for our players this year.

Q. We asked this of your team, but there’s kind of been a narrative that you guys are the Cinderella of the Final Four. Do you subscribe to that? Do you think that you all are a Cinderella team?

HUBERT DAVIS: I don’t know what Cinderella team means, so, no, I don’t prescribe to that. North Carolina’s been to more Final Fours than any program ever.

I know that the togetherness of this team and the health of this team has been at an all time high the last two months, and I know that we’re playing extremely well and we’re deserving of being here, and I know that I’m happy for our players for having the experience of being here.

Q. Your model all season has not necessarily been on the offensive end, but making your plays on defense. As long as your players play defense, you’re going to end up getting the win at the end of the day. What’s been your defensive mindset heading to the Final Four?

HUBERT DAVIS: Well, we’ve identified what allows us to have success, and I’ve said this a number of times. What puts us in a position to be successful out there on the floor is getting after it on the defensive end, rebounding the basketball, and also limiting our turnovers. That’s an area, and all three of them — well, rebounding, we’ve been great in all year, but I feel like defensively, especially the last ten games, I think we’ve held teams to under 41 percent from the field.

We’re doing a much better job of taking care of the basketball. I think R.J. and Caleb have been fantastic at making good decisions with the ball, and that is the key for us to have success on Saturday.

Offensively it’s never been a problem. We can score inside-out, many different ways, but defending, rebounding, and taking care of the basketball is something that’s very important to us.

Q. You were an assistant on that 2017 team that went to the National Championship. How have you used that experience, now that you’re the head coach? Is there anything that you can draw from that experience and take now that you’re the man in charge?

HUBERT DAVIS: The only thing that I can use from 2017 for this year’s team is to share with them what it means like to be the last team standing, to be up on that podium, to cutting down those nets and having those tears of joy and those hugs of celebrating the shared experiences over a long seas on end up being a National Championship team.

And explaining that desperately that’s what I want for them. It’s interesting this morning at breakfast Joel Berry stopped by. He was the MVP of that Final Four. He was a huge piece of us getting to The Finals in 2016. Just him being around our players at breakfast this morning, not necessarily talking to them about the 2017 championship, but just being there, that’s inspiration for our players to be the best that they can be this weekend.

Q. Hubert, Armando Bacot said that this group has always believed in itself but that it didn’t always show it at times this season. What is it that’s allowed this group to show it on the biggest stage?

HUBERT DAVIS: One of the things is this is — this has been a lot of newness. It’s a new head coach, new coaching staff, three transfers, two freshmen, tweaks, pivots, alters in terms of how we play on both ends of the floor. It takes time.

So the relationships that we’ve had and the building of our relationship on and off the court has allowed us to be in a place where we are together, where we are healthy as a team.

So it’s our ability to persevere, our ability at resiliency, our toughness to get back up. There were some humbling losses against Tennessee and Wake Forest and Miami and Duke at home, and this has been a group that has always bounced back. I think those shared experiences have put us in a place where we understand what we need to do in order to be successful, and there’s a trust and a confidence in each one of us that allows us to be as connected as we are right now.