By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — While RJ Davis was etching his place in Carolina basketball history and shooting himself into the national player of the year conversation, Miami was intent on ruining the party.
His Smith Center-record 42 points and seven 3-pointers, both career-highs, helped the No. 9 Tar Heels beat a hot-shooting Miami team Monday night. But the 75–71 victory wasn’t put away until Jae’Lyn Withers sank two free throws with two seconds left.
“He put the team on his back,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “It wasn’t just his points. I thought he was great defensively, took care of the basketball, distributed, rebounded, boxed out. And we needed every bit of his 42 tonight; he was fantastic.”
It was truly an escape for UNC (22–6, 14–3), which clinched no worse than a No. 2 seed in the ACC tournament with the win.
During RJ Davis’ dazzling performance, he even hit a 3-pointer from Murphy — not the actual mountain town but from where it sits on the outline of North Carolina at midcourt.
He scored the most points by a Tar Heel since Shammond Williams poured in 42 in a 1998 double-overtime win at Georgia Tech, and the most 3-pointers since Cole Anthony hit seven at Syracuse in 2020.
“I kind of felt good going to the game today,” said RJ Davis, who had 21 points at halftime and scored the third-most points by a Tar Heel in an ACC regular-season game. “I had my normal talk and normal prayer, just came out hot. And I told myself, since I had a good first half, to not to keep my foot off the gas, to continue to stay on it. I was aggressive, and it felt good.”
It was all amazing and frustrating for UNC at the same time, considering:
— Davis had more field goals (14) than the rest of the team combined (13).
— It was the largest disparity between the top two scorers (34 points, with Harrison Ingram scoring eight points) in program history, topping the 33-point difference against Clemson in the 1957 ACC tournament when Lenny Rosenbluth scored 45 and Pete Brennan had 12.
— He scored 56% of UNC’s points, the highest since George “The Blind Bomber” Glamack scored 59% of UNC’s points against Clemson in 1941 with 45 points.
— It was the first time a Tar Heel has outscored the rest of the team (42–33) since Michael Jordan scored a career-high 39 points in UNC’s 72–65 win over Georgia Tech on Jan. 29, 1983 in Greensboro.
It even topped Davis’ best game in high school. That came on Dec. 15, 2019, when he scored 41 in his senior season in his Stepinac team’s 100–93 overtime victory over St. Raymond 100–93. That day, he came a rebound and three assists away from a triple-double.
Davis pulled down six rebounds to become the first player in program history to collect 1,800 points, 200 3-pointers, 500 rebounds and 300 assists.
“We know what he can do offensively,” said Ingram, who had 10 rebounds and five steals. “He had an off night against Virginia. We knew how RJ is; he’s going to come back, confident guy.”
Coach Davis said RJ Davis does things that fans don’t see, such as being the hardest worker and the last guy putting up shots after practice.
“His ability to be able to score off the bounce and also coming off screens, his ability to distribute? He’s just a wonderful player,” Coach Davis said.
RJ Davis, who put up a 35.1 game score, got beat up a lot in Saturday’s win at Virginia, and on Monday, he had to get one of his nostrils plugged up after the game after getting hit by Miami’s Jakai Robinson.
“I’ve got a sensitive nose, so I always get nose bleeds a lot, and I got hit,” said Davis, who moved into a tie with Brad Daugherty for 10th place on the all-time scoring list with 1,912 points.
Davis said that Armando Bacot (five points, 12 assists) had a lot to do with his big game because of how Miami threw double-teams at the graduate center.
“He did a good job of setting screens for me, but then also sealing under the basket for myself to get into the lane and finish,” said Davis, who topped 30 points for the fourth time in his career. “I just did a good job of setting my man up when I’m coming off ball screens. I got a lot of floaters and mid-ranges and 3s.”
During the seven-game losing streak for the Hurricanes (15–14, 6–12), the two closest games have been against UNC, which won at Coral Gables by three on Feb. 18.
The closest other game was eight points (85–77 loss at Boston College), with the four others were double-digit losses, including a 22-point loss at Virginia (60–38) and a 29-point home loss to Duke (84–55).
Somehow, the matchup works for Miami, even though they played Monday without junior guard starters Nijel Pack and Wooga Poplar (lower-body injuries).
They’ve been prolific 3-point shooters during that skid, though. The Canes poured in 14 3s to give them a double-digit total four times in the last five games. It was the most by a UNC opponent, topping the 13 that Lehigh hit on Nov. 12.
Norchad Omier (22 points, four 3-pointers), Bensley Joseph (21 points, five 3-pointers) and Kyshawn George (14 points, four 3-pointers) combined to make 13 of 24 shots from outside the arc.
“We were leaving them open,” Coach Davis said. “George is one of the best shooters in the country. He has tremendous size, and he was in a rhythm to start off the game and didn’t feel our defensive presence at all.”
Miami took an early 9–6 lead after hitting three 3-pointers, but UNC went up by 6 on an 11–2 run that Elliot Cadeau (six points, five assists) ended by driving for a spinning layup nearly nine minutes into the game. Two more Canes 3s ignited an 8–3 run to tie it at 19 just over two minutes later.
Carolina led the rest of the way when Davis scored nine straight UNC points to put the Heels up six with 4:30 left in the first half. His 3-pointer with 17 seconds left gave him 21 points and UNC a 37–32 halftime lead.
Just when it looked like a 7–0 run that gave UNC a 12-point lead might begin to put the game away, Miami pulled within four on an 8–0 flurry with 11:36 left.
Trimble’s 3-point play ended a 7–2 run to push the lead back to nine. Back-to-back Davis 3s capped a 12–2 run to shove the lead to 14 with 6:50 left.
A George 3-pointer capped an 11–0 Miami run to cut its lead to two with 1:32 left.
After Omier missed an inside shot with 46 seconds left, Davis split a pair of free throws with 24 seconds left. Ingram hauled down the rebound, and Withers clinched the game at the line after UNC missed five consecutive attempts at the free-throw line.
NOTES — Carolina plays the second of three consecutive home games at 4 p.m. Saturday (ESPN), going for a season sweep of N.C. State (17–10, 9–7), which lost to the Heels 67–54 in Raleigh on Jan. 10. The Wolfpack, which won at home Saturday 81–70 against Boston College, plays at Florida State at 9 p.m. Tuesday (ESPN2). … Tyler Hansbrough had the previous Smith Center scoring high with 40 against Georgia Tech in 2006. … Davis is the first Tar Heel with three 30-point games in a season since Coby White in 2018–19. … Davis scored 21 points in each half. It was the most first-half points by a Tar Heel since Caleb Love had 21 against Marquette in the 2022 NCAA first round and the most second-half points since Davis scored 23 vs. Wake Forest this season on Jan. 22. … Davis’ 18th game with at least 20 points are the most since Justin Jackson had 19 for the 2017 national championship team. It was his third game with at least 10 field goals and his ninth game with at least 25 points. … Bacot (1,628) passed Louisville’s Charlie Tyra (1,617) for 12th on the NCAA’s all-time rebounding list. … Larry Brown was at the game, sitting behind the basket closest to the Miami bench. … UNC finished its first regular-season sweep of Miami since 2019 and leads the all-time series 28–10. … Carolina was 5–2 in February after going 4–5 last season. … Miami finished February 1–7 after starting the season 11–2.
No. 9 UNC 75, Miami 71
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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