CHAPEL HILL – If there was a debate for ACC Player of the Year, UNC basketball’s RJ Davis silenced the conversation Monday night.
Davis finished with a Smith-Center record 42 points in the ninth-ranked Tar Heels’ 75-71 win against Miami, becoming the first UNC player to reach that mark since Tyler Hansbrough in 2006.
“Everything just felt easy,” RJ Davis said. “. … Everything just felt like it was a good flow for me.”
The senior guard scored 21 points in each half, knocking down 14 of 22 shots, including seven 3-pointers. At one point in the second half, Davis hit four 3-pointers in a three-minute stretch.
“It was great for him to play the way he did on a national scene, but what he did (against Miami) – I know he hadn’t scored 42 points – but the type of performance he had (against Miami), he’s been having all season,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said.
“He put the team on his back. … We needed every bit of his 42. He was fantastic. I told him after the game I’ve seen a number of performances here at Carolina and also in the NBA. Very few have I seen the type of performance that he had (against Miami).”
RJ Davis accounted for 56% of UNC points, which is the most for any Tar Heel in a game since George Glamack scored 59% of UNC’s points in 1941 against Clemson. Thirty-eight points is the largest gap between the leading scorer and the second-leading scorer in a game in UNC history (Harrison Ingram had eight points).
Has Hubert Davis ever seen a box score like the one against Miami?
“Yeah,” he said. “I played 12 years in the NBA. I played with Dirk Nowitzki and Michael Jordan. I’ve seen that before. That’s what we needed.”
After missing 13 of his 14 shots in UNC’s win at Virginia, Davis got what he wanted against the scrappy-but-shorthanded Hurricanes (15-14, 6-12 ACC), who were missing two of their top players – Nijel Pack and Wooga Poplar.
Davis has scored 20 or more points in 18 of UNC’s 28 games this season as the ACC’s leading scorer. It was his third game with at least 30 points, but Davis also finished with six rebounds and four steals against Miami.
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Davis was the only player to reach double figures for the Tar Heels (22-6, 14-3), who remain atop the ACC standings with four games remaining in the regular season. Jae’Lyn Withers made a pair of free throws in the final seconds to help UNC survive.
Here are some other observations from UNC’s win against Miami.
Harrison Ingram’s game-changing hustle
During an uninspiring stretch for UNC, which saw Miami trim the lead to four points in the second half, Harrison Ingram’s hustle calmed the tension in the Smith Center. With just over 11 minutes left, Ingram got a deflection that nearly went out of bounds before he caught up with it and finished a layup in transition. He had eight points, 10 rebounds and five steals.
Miami’s hot 3-point shooting
Despite injuries, Miami got off to a blistering start from beyond the arc and made it a two-point game with 1:32 left in the game. The Hurricanes had four players in double figures and finished with 14 three-pointers to keep UNC on its heels until the final buzzer.
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached atrbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on X/Twitter.
First appeared on www.fayobserver.com