CLEMSON, S.C. — Hubert Davis' message has been clear over the last week.
The head coach emphasized the importance of having urgency. He stressed that every game should be now or never, especially heading into one of UNC's last resume-building opportunities ahead of the NCAA tournament, where North Carolina holds a 1-10 record in Quad 1 games.
But the postgame scene was the same following the two hour bludgeoning. Davis' drawn out pauses. A despondent Elliot Cadeau. And a sunken Seth Trimble saying he wants to continue to put this jersey on and fight for this team.
Davis' message didn't take root. There was no sense of urgency. There was no fight. It didn't come down to the last possession. Clemson rolled right past North Carolina.
“It's a sense of emergency, and that's the type of mindset you have to have in your preparation, practice and play every day,” Davis said. “It doesn't guarantee you that things will work out your way, but without it you have no chance. And from that standpoint, I'm just sad.”

UNC graduate guard RJ Davis (4) runs the ball down the court during a game against Clemson in the Littlejohn Coliseum on Monday, Feb. 10. UNC fell 85-65.
The UNC men's basketball team fell to No. 23 Clemson, 85-65, on Monday evening in Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson's 20-point victory ties its largest since the two schools began playing in 1926. The Tar Heels squandered one of their last Quad 1 opportunities of the season, allowing the Tigers to shoot 50.8 percent from the field and 48 percent from three. Clemson out-rebounded UNC 41-28. The Tigers did everything they needed to hand North Carolina its fourth straight road loss.
Trimble recognizes how bad it looks. The outcome was the opposite of what the Tar Heels wanted. Sitting on the bubble with NCAA tournament hopes on knife's edge, UNC put up one of its worst performances against Clemson in program history. In what should have been a fight to the finish line, North Carolina chose the path of no resistance.
“We know the stakes,” Trimble said. “We know the position we're in. And just for us to come out and give that performance ...”