CHAPEL HILL - Playing for a team on the NCAA Tournament bubble is not a new experience for RJ Davis. His first taste came as a freshman when the Tar Heels made it into the field as an 8 seed before losing to Wisconsin in what was Roy Williams' final game at the help.
A year later, when Davis was a sophomore, North Carolina entered Cameron Indoor Stadium squarely on the bubble in 2022.
The Tar Heels left with one of the program's most memorable regular season wins in legendary Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski's final home game earning UNC a spot firmly in the tournament field. UNC emerged victorious in its last four regular season games in 2022 using the momentum to win 11 of its last 12 contests and appearing in the National Championship Game.
Three years later, and Davis is once again part of a Tar Heel team that finds themselves on the NCAA Tournament bubble. But, similar to 2022, North Carolina sees itself peaking at the right time with a massive game against those Blue Devils again looming.
The Tar Heels have won six consecutive games, five by double digits. Yet, for the fifth-year guard, the comparisons between the two teams end there.
“I just don’t like the idea of comparisons. I don’t see any benefits of it, like these are two different teams, two different time periods,” said Davis on Thursday whenwith the media in advance of Duke's visit Saturday. “Obviously you can be positive and negative to it, but at the same time, I’m a big believer in different journeys and different paths. (But) 2022 had a different path than the 2025 team. That’s why I don’t like doing the comparison of it.”
Davis is the lone carryover from three seasons ago, as UNC has played 101 games since the end of the 2021-2022 campaign.
Twenty-two Tar Heels have made their debut in a North Carolina uniform since Davis' sophomore season, including the 14 others on the 2024-2025 roster who find their tournament hopes up in the air.
“We have a whole different team compared to three years ago,” said Davis. “I just kind of let it be as that and God willing, how I envision it, if this run turns out how 2022 did then we can talk about the comparison, but other than that I try to keep things separate and just focus on this year.”
Sitting at No. 38 in the NET, the Tar Heels are seven spots lower than they were in 2022, where they ranked No. 31 and possessed three Quad 1 wins and one Quad 4 loss. This season, UNC has just one Quad 1 win to its name compared to one Quad 3 loss and zero Quad 4 defeats.
And the current Heels head into the regular season finale on a winning-streak two games greater than 2022, as they’re finding success when it likely matters most.
“I think what we see is we’re envisioning ourselves and to put ourselves in good positions leading up until this next stretch of obviously March and the ACC Tournament and wanting to get to the NCAA Tournament,” said Davis. “I think we’re envisioning success right now and we’re actually believing and playing with confidence right now. I don’t like doing the comparisons to 2022 and this year’s team. [They’re] totally different teams.”
During North Carolina’s six-game winning streak, what has been present is one main factor that helped the Tar Heels three seasons ago: 3-point shooting.
UNC has connected on 65 of its 136 shots from 3-point range during the streak, good for 47.8%. The Tar Heels are shooting 35.4% from beyond the arc on the season, just .4 percentage points lower than they did in 2022.
The uptick in production is thanks in part to Davis, who is 13-for-36 from three over the six-game stretch, which equates to 36.1%. He converted 36.7% of his threes as a sophomore, a figure he is inching closer towards with each performance.
Davis was an underclassmen during UNC’s run to the National Championship Game, which the Heels lost to Kansas, and now he is the seasoned veteran for the Tar Heels.
Entering Saturday’s regular season finale, there are glaring contrasts between this year’s team and the 2021-2022 Tar Heels, and Davis is right in his proclamation that they’re different teams. But one connection between the two is apparent: a win over the Blue Devils could punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
North Carolina accomplished it three years ago, and if the Tar Heels can do it again, Davis may become more receptive to the comparisons between the two rosters.
