By R.L. Bynum

CHAPEL HILL — With freshman point guard Elliot Cadeau deftly creating offense with his dazzling passing, senior RJ Davis is flourishing playing more off the ball as a two-guard, and it has North Carolina’s offense in overdrive.

Davis followed up a 30-point game in Friday’s 87–72 victory over Arkansas in the Bahamas with 27 points Wednesday in the No. 17 Tar Heels’ 100–92 victory in the ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge at the Smith Center.

The 57 combined points are the best two-game total in Davis’ career. In the two games, he’s 17 of 35 from the floor and 10 of 19 from 3-point range with four assists and one turnover. Davis became the fifth Carolina guard since 2000 to score 25 or more points in consecutive games, joining Joseph Forte, Marcus Paige, Coby White and Cole Anthony.

Instead of being more of a facilitator playing alongside Caleb Love last season, he’s free to concentrate more on scoring.

“It’s been great,” said Davis, who scored at least five 3-pointers for the fifth time in his career. “I think it’s been an adjustment, just from me being a primary ballhandler three years, to adjust from playing the one and a two.”

In more than 38 minutes, RJ Davis only played point guard for 8 minutes, 49 seconds against Tennessee, and never for more than about 2½ minutes at a time. He’s led UNC (6–1) in scoring four times this season, including the last three games.

“I think it also benefits me because it makes me exploit all my talents,” he said. “I don’t always have to handle the ball. Like Steph Curry, you don’t see him handle the ball a lot, especially with Chris Paul. So, I kind of look at it as an advantage, a benefit. I’ve been a natural scorer my whole life.”

Cadeau is making that all work for Davis, dishing out 10 assists with no turnovers against Tennessee and consistently creating offense for all of the Tar Heels. With Cadeau on the court in the last three games, UNC is scoring 1.37 points per possession compared to 1.02 when he’s on the bench.

“Just his ability to see the floor and see the play before it even happens,” said RJ Davis, the last previous Tar Heel with double-digit assists, collecting 12 against Marquette in the first round of the 2022 NCAA tournament. “If you’re running the lane, he is going to pitch ahead, and that’s what Carolina basketball is all about.

“It’s what they have been doing in previous years and that’s what Coach Davis was emphasizing,” RJ Davis said. “And he was doing a phenomenal job of pitching the ball ahead, finding open shooters, and making it easy for Armando [Bacot] to finish down-low through contact.”

Cadeau is the first UNC freshman with 10 assists in a game since Paige had 10 against Florida State in the 2013 ACC tournament. It was the first 10-assist, 0-turnover game since Paige did it on Feb. 21, 2015, against Georgia Tech.

Making plays for others is not only a key part of Cadeau’s game, but it’s what gets him fired up. “I just love when my teammates are doing good. When I pass the ball, and Mondo gets an and-one, it really gets me hype,” he said.

You could see him celebrating after many passes ended up producing baskets.

“A game like this, when all of my teammates are hitting shots and I’m not making shots, that’s when I know I have to be more aggressive on the passing side … [the mindset] it’s a natural thing to me,” said Cadeau, who missed all five of his shots against Tennessee. “When I was younger, my parents used to have to pay me to shoot the ball. Literally pay me to shoot. It was just a thing of I would love to pass the ball. My parents would pay me, I think $5 a point I scored in second grade.”

Cadeau joined RJ Davis, Joel Berry II, Theo Pinson, JP Tokoto and Paige as the only Tar Heels with 10 assists in a game in the last 10 years. He became the third Tar Heel with 10 assists and no field goals in a game, joining Ed Cota (twice) and Ty Lawson.

Preseason talk that Cadeau would be the best passer in the UNC program since Kendall Marshall is proving accurate through seven games.

“Elliot has a gift and a talent to not only distribute and pass the ball but also distribute and pass the ball to a player where he can actually do something with it,” Coach Hubert Davis said. “And he’s instinctively just really special in that area. But it’s also our wings and Armando running, too. So it’s a full team effort.”

Last season, there were times when post-entry passes to Bacot didn’t come that often, but that wasn’t the case against the Vols.

“He’s basically a quarterback out there,” Bacot said. “I know he is going to find me whenever I get open. He encourages me to run harder every play and post out.”

Since Cadeau committed four turnovers in the 77–52 win over UC Riverside, he has had only one turnover and 21 assists in the four games since then. Cadeau played a season-high 31 minutes against the Vols.

“I think I’m doing a lot better. The biggest part for me was getting in shape. I think I’m in ball shape now and getting better every day,” Cadeau said. “I feel I’m getting a lot more comfortable. The biggest part for me is the zero turnovers part because I’ve been trying to work on that.”

Guard play and the lack of ball movement were often concerns for Carolina last season. There is zero concern about guard play as UNC heads into its ACC opener on Saturday against Florida State.

UNC season statistics

Date	Month/day	Score	Opponent/event (current ranks)	Record
	October
27	Friday	W, 117–53	vs. St. Augustine’s	Exhibition
	November
6	Monday	W, 86–70	vs. Radford	1–0
12	Sunday	W, 90–68	vs. Lehigh	2–0
17	Friday	W, 77–52	vs. UC Riverside	3–0
			Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas
22	Wednesday	W, 91–69	Northern Iowa	4–0
23	Thursday	L, 83–81, OT	Villanova	4–1
24	Friday	W, 87–72	Arkansas	5–1
			ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge
29	Wednesday	W, 100–92	vs. No. 6 Tennessee	6–1
	December
2	Saturday	W, 78–70	vs. Florida State	7–1, 1–0 ACC
			Jimmy V Classic in New York
5	Tuesday	L, 87–67	No. `1` Connecticut	7–2
			CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta
16	Saturday	L, 87–83	No. 12 Kentucky	7–3
			Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte
20	Wednesday	W, 81–69	Oklahoma	8–3
			—————————
29	Friday	W, 105–60	vs. Charleston Southern	9–3
	January
2	Tuesday	W, 70–57	at Pittsburgh	10–3, 2–0 ACC
6	Saturday	W, 65–55	at Clemson	11–3, 3–0 ACC
10	Wednesday	W, 67–54	at N.C. State	12–3, 4–0 ACC
13	Saturday	W, 103–67	vs. Syracuse	13–3, 5–0 ACC
17	Wednesday	W, 86–70	vs. Louisville	14–3, 6–0 ACC
20	Saturday	W, 76–66	vs. Boston College	15–3, 7–0 ACC
22	Monday	W, 85–64	vs. Wake Forest	16–3, 8–0 ACC
27	Saturday	W, 75–68	at Florida State	17–3, 9–0 ACC
30	Tuesday	L, 74–73	at Georgia Tech	17–4, 9–1 ACC
	February
3	Saturday	W, 93–84	vs. No. 13 Duke	18–4, 10–1 ACC
6	Tuesday	L, 80–76	vs. Clemson	18–5, 10–2 ACC
10	Saturday	W, 75–72	at Miami	19–5, 11–2 ACC
13	Tuesday	L, 86–79	at Syracuse	19–6, 11–3 ACC
17	Saturday	W, 96–81	vs. Virginia Tech	20–6, 12–3 ACC
24	Saturday	W, 54–44	at Virginia	21–6, 13–3 ACC
26	Monday	W, 75–71	vs. Miami	22–6, 14–3 ACC
	March
2	Saturday	W, 79–70	vs. N.C. State	23–6, 15–3 ACC
5	Tuesday	W, 84–51	vs. Notre Dame	24–6, 16–3 ACC
9	Saturday	W, 84–79	at No. 13 Duke	25–6, 17–3 ACC
			ACC tournament Washington
14	Thursday	W, 92–67	Quarterfinals: Florida State	26–6
15	Friday	W, 72–65	Semifinals: Pittsburgh	27–6
16	Saturday	L, 84–76	Final: N.C. State	27–7
			NCAA tournament
21	Thursday	W, 90–62	First round in Charlotte: Wagner	28–7
23	Saturday	W, 85–69	Second round in Charlotte: Michigan State	29–7
28	Thursday	L, 89–87	Sweet 16 in Los Angeles: No. 19 Alabama	29–8