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FORT WORTH, TX – Brady Manek has made a bunch of headlines over the last month. Caleb Love has done it here and there for four months. And Armando Bacot has been a regular in the heads or subheads nearly every time North Carolina has taken the floor.
But playing a massive role in UNC’s season-long process and recent ascent is sophomore guard RJ Davis, who hasn’t garnered as many above-the-fold isos as his other prominent teammates. But he is no less worthy, especially after his performance this past weekend in helping the Tar Heels advance to the Sweet 16 for the 35th time in program history.
Whatever Hubert Davis needed from RJ Davis; the younger Davis obliged.
Thursday, it was ball distribution, especially with Davis converting only 1-for-10 from the field versus Marquette in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. To compensate, all Davis did was hand out 12 assists against a single turnover carving up the Golden Eagles as UNC cruised to a 32-point win, the largest margin ever in a game between eight and nine seeds.
“RJ has been playing fantastic all year,” junior forward Armando Bacot said following the first-round win at Dickies Arena. “And Coach Davis always preached to me and RJ about if your shot is not falling, how else can you impact the game?
“And so being a point guard, if your shot is not falling, we still got to play defense, we still got to distribute, we still got to rebound. Do other things to impact the game. So that's exactly what RJ did.
Two days later, the Tar Heels needed Davis to score, so he obliged.
With the task facing defending national champion and East Region No. 1 seed Baylor, Carolina needed to show early it could score against a team rated one of the best nationally on the defensive end of the floor. So, all Davis did was score UNC’s first eight points as the Heels built an 8-4 lead.
It helped settle the team as they eventually built a 25-point lead. And it came on a day in which Caleb Love scored just five points and was 1-for-6 from the field. So, UNC needed Davis’ touch and he delivered, finishing with a career-high 30 points.
“I know they like to switch on ball screens,” the New York native said. “I was able to get in rhythm the first half. And that carried along throughout the whole game. I just took what the defense gave me and I was able to make big-time shots.”
Two late-game sequences stood out from Davis’ cagey, gutty play Saturday.
The first came with Carolina (26-9) trying to hang on for dear life and a somewhat-makeshift lineup on the floor in the midst of another discombobulated possession. Davis got the ball on the left wing as the shot clock hurried toward extinction and he alertly drew Baylor’s James Akinjo and oddly attempted a three-pointer.
The shot missed, but Akinjo was assessed a personal foul, and Davis calmly knocked down three free throws for a nine-point lead with 2:37 remaining in regulation.
But his biggest bucket of the day occurred with 1:18 remaining in overtime. Davis drove down the middle of the lane, fended off heavy contact by the Bears and converted a layup while also drawing a foul on Dale Bonner. He then sank the free throw for a conventional three-point play giving Carolina a 90-85 advantage. Baylor couldn’t get any closer.
Even with that load on his shoulders Saturday, the 6-foot Davis also managed to grab five rebounds and hand out six assists. For the weekend, he had 18 assists against just four assists, and that 30-point, team-on-his back performance against the defending champs.
He also became the first UNC player to ever hand out 10 or more assists in one NCAA Tournament game and score 30 or more points in the next.
“His ability to understand when to pass and when to shoot has been absolutely fantastic,” Carolina’s coach said. “He runs our team. He gets the ball to his teammates at the right moment and at the right time where they can do something with it on the offensive end.
“He does an excellent job of taking care of the basketball. And he's a big time shot maker. You know, his ability to be able to, not only from three, but also that drive in overtime, to be able to finish in the lane, those are things that RJ has done consistently throughout the entire season. I know he was able to do that on the biggest stage today.”
Davis, who averages 13.5 points and 3.7 assists per contest) has also scored 21 points in the win at Duke 17 days ago, and has five 20-point games on the season. He also has 13 games with five or more assists, including six versus Virginia and its stingy defense nearly two weeks ago in the ACC Tournament.
Much has been made about Carolina being 14-0 when Love hands out five or more assists, but it’s 12-1 when Davis does, with the lone loss coming at Notre Dame. The Heels are also 5-0 when he hits the 20-point mark, and 12-2 when Davis scores 16 or more points.
For a guy who doesn’t get as much press as some teammates, Davis was plenty worthy of the headlines in Texas.
