Despite trailing by a point at halftime, the UNC men’s basketball team won going away at the Smith Center Monday night, defeating Wake Forest 85-64.
𝐇𝐄𝐄𝐋𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐍.#CarolinaFamily | @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/fxcLtP5EWI
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) January 23, 2024
Senior guard R.J. Davis carried Carolina’s offense all night, setting a new career high with 36 points – 23 of which came in the second half. Davis shot 4-8 on three-pointers, giving him 16 consecutive games with multiple threes made – breaking a school record previously held by Justin Jackson. Davis’ 36 points are the most by a Tar Heel in a game since Brice Johnson scored 39 in 2016, and the most by a Tar Heel in the Smith Center since Tyler Hansbrough scored 39 in 2008.
“For me to have a phenomenal game like that, that’s something you only dream of,” Davis said afterward. “Especially here at North Carolina. I’m all smiles right now.”
Davis’ hot outside shooting came even as he and the Tar Heels failed to make a three for the entire first half. It was the team’s first such half all season.
Carolina finished the first half shooting 13-30 (43.3 percent) from the floor and only totaled one assist as a team. Thanks to an extended 20-11 run from Wake Forest, the Demon Deacons took a one-point lead at the break after trailing by as many as eight.
“[Coach Hubert Davis] got on us,” R.J. Davis said of the locker room at halftime. “There was a lot of yelling. He basically told us they don’t feel our presence.”
Davis and the Tar Heels certainly made their presence felt in the second half. The Demon Deacons, the leading three-point shooting team in the ACC, didn’t make a single shot from outside after halftime. Wake Forest finished with more fouls (nine) in the half than made shots (eight). Carolina was dominant on the glass, outrebounding the Deacons 25-13 in the half and 43-30 for the game. Harrison Ingram finished as the team’s leading rebounder with 14 to go along with 10 points. The Tar Heels have outrebounded their opponents in eight consecutive games.
UNC’s Armando Bacot challenges a shot from Wake Forest’s Cameron Hildreth in the second half of UNC’s 85-64 win on January 22, 2024. (Image via Todd Melet)
“Because of the defense and because of the rebounding… it allows us to get out in transition,” said head coach Hubert Davis. “And we’re just really good in transition.”
Ironically enough, Hubert Davis was the last Tar Heel to score at least 30 points against the Demon Deacons, doing so all the way back in 1992. That game required a 22-point comeback and a game-winning basket from Brian Reese for Carolina to escape with a victory. There was no such drama on Monday night, as the Tar Heels slowly but surely pulled away as the second half progressed. Much of that was thanks to R.J. Davis, whose 12 shot attempts in the second half were five more than any other Tar Heel. With good reason: he made eight of them.
“I’m in the zone,” Davis said. “I feel like I’m in my backyard, just out there hooping. Just trying things out. I think it’s a zone that every hooper knows. When you’re in that zone, it’s hard to get out. You can’t hear anything. You just see the ball and the basket.”
“Give him the ball,” Ingram said of his thought process during the second half. “Give him the ball and get out the way.”
By the time Davis checked out with under a minute remaining, the remaining crowd in the Smith Center was ready to give him a hearty standing ovation. Even better? They chanted his name.
“It was the first time, as a player and as a coach, that I can remember the Smith Center crowd chanting a player’s name,” Hubert Davis said. “I’m just really proud of him. He’s had a terrific career, but I feel like this year he’s finally getting noticed.”
UNC head coach Hubert Davis embraces R.J. Davis as he leaves the court during UNC’s 85-64 win over Wake Forest on January 22, 2024. (Image via Todd Melet)
Carolina’s 8-0 start in ACC play matches its best since the 2015-16 season. The Tar Heels are 16-3 overall and winners of nine straight games. Next up for the team is a road trip to Florida State on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Featured image via Todd Melet
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