No. 9 UNC men’s basketball beats Miami behind career-high 42-point performance from RJ Davis –

Behind a career-high 42-point game from senior guard RJ Davis, the No. 9 North Carolina basketball team (22-7, 15-3 ACC) beat the Miami Hurricanes (15-15, 6-13 ACC), 75-71, Monday night at the Dean E. Smith Center. 

Davis led the Tar Heels offensively, going 7-11 from beyond the arc and becoming the first Tar Heel in UNC history to compile 1,800 points, 200 three-pointers, 500 rebounds and 300 assists. With his performance, RJ Davis surpassed Tyler Hansbrough’s record of 40 for most points scored in a game at the Smith Center.

“We needed every bit of his 42 tonight,” UNC head coach Hubert Davis said. “He was fantastic. I told him after the game that I’ve seen a number of performances here at Carolina and also in the NBA. Very few have I seen the type of performance that he had tonight. I was really proud of him.”

The Hurricanes took to shooting from the perimeter, going almost 50 percent from three, but struggled in the post, scoring just 18 points in the paint. UNC played a slightly more complimentary game with 26 points off layups and 44.3 percent shooting from the field. 

Both the Hurricanes and the Tar Heels had the green light from beyond the arc, with the first 15 points of the contest coming from back-and-forth threes between the two teams. However, the Tar Heels struggled early in the post, not scoring their first layup until seconds before the first media timeout and only grabbing their first lead seven minutes into the game.

Before long, due to two threes from Hurricane Kyshawn George, Miami equalized.

UNC took the lead back on a hot-potato possession — three turnovers in 30 seconds — culminating with RJ Davis taking the ball to the hole on the fast break. 

The Hurricanes were able to make a splash in the first half, going 8-13 beyond the arc, which kept the two teams close.