RJ Davis’ legendary night helps UNC basketball program hold off Miami

It’s safe to say that the UNC basketball program loves to stress us all out!

Even without two key starters, the Miami Hurricanes pushed the Tar Heels to the limit, but thanks to a HUGE performance from RJ Davis, North Carolina prevailed.

2306. UNC Miami. 75. 441. Final. 71

With Nijel Pack and Wooga Poplar sidelined due to injuries, you would’ve expected the Tar Heels to cruise to a win.

However, give credit to the Hurricanes, as they played incredibly tough and gave the Tar Heels everything they had.

The first half story line featured the dominance of Davis along with the stellar three-point shooting of the Hurricanes. It felt like Miami couldn’t miss, as they connected on eight of their 12 first half attempts from deep.

Their struggles from within the three point line did hurt them, as North Carolina, behind 21 first-half points from Davis, led by five heading into the break.

Davis continued scoring, but the Tar Heels simply couldn’t pull away for good. Miami kept it close to where the game was within single digits, and the full-court press started to force the Tar Heels into some big mistakes down the stretch.

To add to it, free throw shooting kept Miami in it as well, as North Carolina couldn’t capitalize at the line. Armando Bacot and Seth Trimble combined to miss four consecutive free throws down the stretch, as a Harrison Ingram tip-out essentially saved the Tar Heels from having to make a defensive stop to preserve a two-point lead.

Jae’Lyn Withers came up huge, as he drained two free throws in the closing seconds to cap off the victory. It was refreshing to see a Tar Heel capitalize on free throws, as the game would’ve been decided much earlier if the attempts at the charity strike fell.

Davis now holds the record for most points in a single-game at the Dean Smith Center, as he passed Tyler Hansbrough’s original mark of 40 points. Other than Davis, no other Tar Heel scored in double-figures, as the rest of the team really struggled to get going offensively.

If this type of performance doesn’t solidify it, I quite frankly don’t know what will…

RJ Davis is CLEARLY the ACC Player of the Year, and it truly isn’t close.

Similar to 16 days ago in Coral Gables, the UNC basketball program escapes with a win over the Hurricanes. It wasn’t pretty, especially down the stretch, but somehow, someway, the Tar Heels got it done.