By R.L. Bynum
CHARLOTTE — No. 11 North Carolina finished a pre-Christmas gauntlet of challenges against highly ranked teams impressively against No. 7 Oklahoma, fueled by the Tar Heels’ best defense of the season.
After UNC couldn’t find the combination to beat No. 5 UConn or No. 9 Kentucky, it all came together against the Sooners, led by another high-level night from senior RJ Davis.
Davis collected 23 points, four 3-pointers, five assists, three steals and no turnovers as UNC ended a two-game losing streak with an 81–69 victory Wednesday at the Spectrum Center at the second Jumpman Invitational.
Unlike the previous two games, this was in front of a partisan crowd of Tar Heels fans. And unlike those games, the transition game flourished behind 18 forced turnovers and 10 steals, both season-highs, translating into 23 fast-break points.
“I thought we were really good defensively,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “When they ran their actions, which was mostly ball screens, I thought that is what allowed us to get some steals, deflections and creating turnovers. Overall, defensively, I think that was our best effort of the season.”
Coach Davis said that some of the best defense he’s seen in practice all season came in the last couple of days and that it translated to the game. Carolina held Oklahoma to 32.3% shooting in the first half, the third time this season the Tar Heels have held an opponent to under 33% shooting in a half.
RJ Davis said this was the first time this season that the Tar Heels (8–3) had played good defense for 40 minutes.
“I think our preparation going to the game was big. Our offense was really good, but what we were lacking was defense,” he said. “I think that was happening through steals. We had guys in the right positions and, overall, just making the defensive plays that are needed to be made, especially in crucial times.”
Davis is the first player to lead UNC in scoring for seven consecutive games since Tyler Hansbrough did it for eight games in a row in the 2008–09 season.
The previously untested Sooners (10–1) aren’t close to the level of the Huskies and Wildcats. But the victory gave Carolina two wins against teams currently in the top 10. The other one was the win over No. 8 Tennessee, and the Heels never trailed in either game. Those games give UNC two Quad 1 wins, with three more Quad 1 opportunities in the next four games.
“Going into this game, we knew it was a must-win,” said Harrison Ingram, who had 11 points, seven rebounds and four steals. “Undefeated team — it was one of those big wins we need to get into the tournament. So we definitely came into the game with a sense of urgency.”
Armando Bacot rebounded from a couple of rough offensive games with 14 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and his second 3-pointer of the season, the third of his career.
“Coaches may not like this, but I said to myself today, I was gonna hit a three, ” Bacot said of the corner shot. “I shot it confidently, so I knew I would make it.”
Offensive rebounding still was an issue for Carolina, which snagged only 28.8% of its misses, but the Tar Heels did a better job on the defensive end while getting outrebounded 41–34.
Coach Davis praised the energy off the bench from freshman Zayden High, who tied his season-high with 12 minutes, the most since getting in for 11 minutes against UC Riverside and the first time he’s played more than four since then.
“His number was called tonight, and he stepped up,” Coach Davis said of High, who had three rebounds. “It won’t show up huge on the box score, but a huge determining factor of us winning this game was him. We got outrebounded, but to help us rebound, we’ve got to get bigger. I wish there was a stat of how many balls he kept alive or almost got. He always attacked the offensive glass and just does exactly what I asked him to do.”
Carolina held Oklahoma without a field goal for nearly the first six minutes, jumping out to a 12–2 lead on a Davis 3-pointer as the shot clock was about to expire with 14:32 left. The Sooners cut the lead in half on a 7–2 run, with five points from Rivaldo Soares.
After the Sooners pulled within three, Harrison Ingram had four points in an 11–2 run to open a 12-point UNC edge with five minutes left in the first half. The Heels led 36–28 at halftime with a 13–0 advantage in fast-break points.
Bacot’s 3-pointer, followed by a Davis jumper, shoved the lead to 14 with 11:33 left. A Jalen Washington follow dunk with 7:52 put UNC up 15.
The Sooners cut the lead to five with 3:01 left, but UNC put the game away with an 8–2 run.
Otega Oweh led the Sooners with 23 points.
NOTES — Carolina wore shooting shirts before the game with “Montross” and “00” on the back, remembering 1990s star and center Eric Montross, who passed away Sunday. There was a moment of silence before the game. … This was UNC’s third consecutive Quad 1 game. After a Quad 4 home game Dec. 29 against Charleston Southern (NET ranking of 345), the Tar Heels open the ACC season with Quad 1 road games against Pittsburgh (40) Jan. 2, No. 18 Clemson (14) Jan. 6 and N.C. State (67) Jan. 10. … Charleston Southern (3–8) hosts Kentucky Christian, an NAIA school, at noon Thursday (ESPN+). … Davis has scored 183 points in the past seven games, the most by a Tar Heel since Hansbrough scored 191 points in seven consecutive games during the 2007–08 season. … While face value for lower-level seats for Tuesday night’s doubleheader were $89.70 and the upper-level was obscured by curtains, upper-level seats for Wednesday’s doubleheader went for $113.95, with lower-level seats costing $172.60. … Florida’s women beat Michigan 82–65 in Wednesday’s first game. … Carolina has won all four meetings with Oklahoma, two under Coach Dean Smith, one under Coach Roy Williams and now one under Coach Davis. … It was UNC’s first win over a top-10 non-conference opponent since beating No. 4 Baylor 93–86 in overtime in the second round of the 2022 NCAA tournament, and first win over a top-10 team overall since beating No. 6 Virginia 71–63 last season on Feb. 25. … Carolina improved to 166–27 overall in Charlotte, including a 16-2 record in the arena now known as the Spectrum Center. … UNC is 20–5 against ranked opponents in Charlotte and 8–5 against top-10 opponents in Charlotte.
No. 11 UNC 81, No. 7 Oklahoma 69
UNC lineup combinations
| Score | Time | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Segment score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starters | 20:00 | Cadeau | Davis | Ryan | Ingram | Bacot | 7–2 |
| 7–2 | 15:31 | Davis | Trimble | Withers | 7–4 | ||
| 14–6 | 13:14 | Ingram | Washington | 2–5 | |||
| 16–11 | 11:21 | Cadeau | Bacot | 2–4 | |||
| 18–15 | 9:57 | Wojcik | Ingram | High | 2–2 | ||
| 20–17 | 7:50 | Davis | 4–0 | ||||
| 24–17 | 6:18 | Davis | Ryan | 2–2 | |||
| 26–19 | 5:26 | Withers | 4–0 | ||||
| 30–19 | 5:01 | Trimble | Ryan | 1–5 | |||
| 31–24 | 3:31 | Ingram | 3–0 | ||||
| 34–24 | 1:49 | High | 1–2 | ||||
| 35–26 | 29.5 | Bacot | 1–2 | ||||
| 36–28 | Half | Cadeau | Davis | 8–7 | |||
| 44–35 | 15:36 | Davis | Trimble | 8–6 | |||
| 52–41 | 13:20 | High | 5–4 | ||||
| 57–45 | 10:25 | Cadeau | Davis | Trimble | Washington | 0–0 | |
| 57–45 | 9:50 | Ryan | 3–3 | ||||
| 60–48 | 8:14 | Trimble | 3–2 | ||||
| 63–50 | 6:58 | Davis | Ingram | Bacot | 5–11 | ||
| 68–61 | 3:56 | Cadeau | Davis | 7–6 | |||
| 75–67 | 1:14 | Davis | Trimble | 0–0 | |||
| 75–67 | 1:03 | Cadeau | Davis | 1–0 | |||
| 76–67 | 43.9 | Davis | Trimble | 5–2 | |||
| 81–69 | Final |
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 |
Photos by Smith Hardy
tarheeltribune.com 
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