By R.L. Bynum
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — If RJ Davis wasn’t already a favorite to earn All-America honors and ACC Player of the Year, his play at both ends solidified that status on Saturday.
The senior guard poured in 25 points on one end and pestered Nijel Pack at the other as No. 3 UNC overcame blowing 12-point leads in both halves to hold on for a 75–72 victory Saturday at the Watsco Center.
After Pack scored 18 first-half points, Davis held him to two points on 1 of 8 shooting in the second half. Davis collected five 3-pointers, seven rebounds, five assists, and two steals, for one of his best all-around games of the season.
“I haven’t even seen every player in the country, but it’d be hard for me to think of anybody that is playing any better than RJ,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “We’re asking him to defend the best perimeter player, to score, distribute, rebound, take care of the basketball. Every day in practice and games, he shows up. He’s just one of those special type of players that you’re just filled with thankfulness just to be able to be around him and coach and that he’s a part of our team and program.”
RJ Davis said it was one of the best defensive games of his career.
“I take it as a challenge, the pride of being the best defensive player that I know how to be,” he said. “It’s hard to score 25 and have to chase their best player around.”
RJ Davis says that now he knows how Leaky Black felt last season when he was always guarding the other team’s best player.
“I was able to run around screens, and I felt like Leaky a little bit,” said RJ Davis, who notched his eighth game with at least 25 points this season, his 16th with at least 20. It was the 18th time he has led UNC in scoring this season.
In the second half, when Pack got into a ball screen or a dribble handoff, UNC put two defenders on him. That took Pack out of the rhythm that had him so productive in the first half.
While most opponents have also been sagging off Elliot Cadeau on the perimeter, the Hurricanes didn’t on a day when the freshman guard collected a career-high 19 points, eight assists, a career-high four steals and three rebounds. He had four 3-pointers all season before scoring two Saturday, his first game with multiple 3s.
“He’s elite in terms of being able to get to the basket,” Coach Davis said. “It doesn’t matter what kind of defense, his ability to be able to get to the paint, to be able to score, distribute is just at a high level.”
Carolina (19–5, 11–2 ACC) seemingly took control with a 22–6 run in the first 12:15 of the second half. But Miami (15–9, 6–7) fought back in both halves, pulling within two on a Wooga Poplar layup with 1:10 left.
Armando Bacot blocked a Norchad Omier shot with 30 seconds left, and Harrison Ingram split a pair of free throws with 24.3 seconds left to put UNC up by three. After Pack missed a long 3-point attempt with 12 seconds left, Cormac Ryan put the game away on a free throw with 8.4 seconds left.
“We haven’t had very much success against them of late, especially here,” Coach Davis said of Miami. “Because of their athleticism and their ability to score and at a number of different positions. We always know that no lead is safe, and they continue to fight, and we made a couple more plays down the stretch to be able to put out the win.”
Ingram was productive, with 13 points, two 3-pointers, five rebounds and two blocks. Bacot put up his 79th double-double (and 11th this season) with 10 points and 15 rebounds before fouling out with 2.1 seconds left. He blocked two shots to become the first Tar Heel with 2,000 points, 1,500 rebounds, 200 blocks and 100 steals.
“It’s so tough just the way they hit ball screens; it really affected us,” said Bacot, who passed Lew Alcindor, Jerry Lucas and Mel Counts (all had 78) and tied Oscar Robertson and Michael Brooks for eighth all-time in NCAA history with 79 double-doubles. “But we figured out ways to make plays. Elliot was huge today. Huge bounce-back game for him.”
Bacot did a solid defensive job on Omier, holding him to four second-half points after he had scored 16 in the first half.
“I thought Armando really stepped up in the second half and really worked hard to make it hard for him to catch the ball where he wants to,” Coach Davis said. “I thought he did a good job on his dribble drives, didn’t give them low-post position, didn’t foul him, put them on the free-throw line. And then also there’s another way you can defend them — you can go at him on the offensive end. In the second half, Armando was more aggressive. And because he was so aggressive, he got Omier in foul trouble, and it’s easier to defend him when he’s on the bench.”
Seth Trimble was on the court taking shots pregame but missed his second consecutive game with an upper-body injury (likely a concussion). That meant more minutes for graduate guard Paxson Wojcik, who played a season-high 22 minutes in the loss to Clemson and 18 against Miami.
Consecutive RJ Davis 3-pointers fueled an 8–0 UNC run to take an early eight-point lead. Miami called a timeout after a Cadeau driving bucket, and a corner Ryan 3-pointer 4:42 into the game shoved the lead to 11.
An Ingram 3-pointer with 12:46 gave the Heels their biggest lead of the first half at 12. But a short Pack jumper capped a 21–9 Miami run, including back-to-back Pack 3-pointers, to take a four-point lead with 3:01 left in the first half. A 3-pointer and layup from Davis cut UNC’s halftime deficit to 41–40.
Carolina took a 12-point lead in the first 12:15 of the second half with a 22–6 run. That stretch included consecutive 3-pointers from Ryan and Ingram, four consecutive Davis free throws — two resulting from an Omier technical foul — and a Cadeau steal and a layup.
After a corner Poplar 3 and a Matthew Cleveland jumper trimmed Miami’s deficit to five with 5:26 left, a Bacot dunk and a Cadeau drive pushed it back to nine.
Miami surged within three with a 6–0 run, ending with a Poplar dunk with 1:40 left. After Cadeau split a pair of free throws, a Poplar’s cut the lead to two.
Omier and Pack each had 20 points for Miami while Poplar added 13.
NOTES — UNC visits Syracuse (15–9, 6–7) at 7 p.m. Tuesday (ESPN). The Orange lost 77–68 at home Saturday against Clemson for their third loss in the last four games. … Miami and Carolina play again in Chapel Hill on Feb. 26. … The sellout crowd, with a lot of student-section seats in the upper arena, included Bob McAdoo and Dudley Bradley. … Carolina leads the all-time series with Miami 27–10, including 8–4 at Miami. … The Hurricanes are 11–3 this season in the Watsco Center, also losing to Louisville and Florida State. … The win clinched Carolina’s 44th winning record on the road in the ACC in 71 seasons. … The Tar Heels committed 16 turnovers that led to 22 Miami points, the second-most turnovers in a win this season (17 at Florida State). … The Tar Heels scored a season-low one bench point (a free throw by Zayden High).
No. 3 UNC 75, Miami 72
ACC standings
| Team | League | Overall |
|---|---|---|
| No. 4 North Carolina | 17–3 | 25–6 |
| No. 11 Duke | 15–5 | 24–7 |
| Virginia | 13–7 | 22–9 |
| Pittsburgh | 12–8 | 21–10 |
| Clemson | 11–9 | 21–10 |
| Syracuse | 11–9 | 20–11 |
| Wake Forest | 11–9 | 19–12 |
| Virginia Tech | 10–10 | 18–13 |
| Florida State | 10–10 | 16–15 |
| N.C. State | 9–11 | 17–13 |
| Boston College | 8–12 | 17–14 |
| Georgia Tech | 7–12 | 14–17 |
| Notre Dame | 7–13 | 12–19 |
| Miami | 6–14 | 15–16 |
| Louisville | 3–17 | 8–22 |
Saturday’s games
No. 4 North Carolina 84, No. 11 Duke 79
Virginia Tech 82, Notre Dame 76
Florida State 83, Miami 75
Boston College 67, Louisville 61
Wake Forest 81, Clemson 76
Pittsburgh 81, N.C. State 73
Virginia 72, Georgia Tech 57
ACC tournament
March 12–16, Capitol One Arena, Washington
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 |
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
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