DAYTON, Ohio — RJ Davis and his North Carolina teammates definitely seemed as if they belonged within the NCAA Match on Tuesday night time.
Davis scored 26 factors and shot 6 of 6 from 3-point vary to assist the Tar Heels silence some skeptics with a dominant 95-68 victory over San Diego State of their First 4 matchup.
UNC was a controversial NCAA choice on Sunday, however the Tar Heels performed like a crew with one thing to show.
“We know we deserved to be here,” junior guard Seth Trimble mentioned.
NorthCarolina coach Hubert Davis mentioned his gamers had been merely centered on the duty at hand.
“I don’t think it was a weight on us to try to get into the NCAA Tournament,” he mentioned. “My communication with them is to focus on us. It’s not the noise on the outside in terms of comments and critics. Focusing on our preparation, our practice and our play.”
Some scorching taking pictures from lengthy vary didn’t harm.
RJ Davis’ six 3-pointers tied Caleb Love’s program report for an NCAA Match recreation. Love had six towards UCLA in 2022.
Hubert Davis went 5 for five from deep towards Japanese Michigan in 1991.
“As a head coach, I don’t know what it looks like to exist without him on the sideline and on the floor, and I don’t want to think about it,” Hubert Davis mentioned about RJ Davis.
The 14 made 3-pointers had been essentially the most for North Carolina in an NCAA Match recreation.
UNC drained 13 towards Marquette in 2022.
“I know that we hit a record number of 3s here, but made shots come and go,” Hubert Davis mentioned. “The thing I was most proud of is we were getting steals and deflections, and I thought our defense was real good.”
Trimble had 16 factors for the Tar Heels in a matchup of No. 11 seeds. They superior to play No. 6 seed Mississippi in a South Area recreation Friday in Milwaukee.
Nick Boyd and Wayne McKinney III every scored 12 for the Aztecs (21-10).
NorthCarolina shot 61% within the first half and went 7 of 9 from 3-point vary. RJ Davis’ lengthy 3 simply earlier than the halftime buzzer gave the Tar Heels their largest result in that time, 47-23.
“I think we did a good job of sticking to our game plan and playing Carolina basketball,” he mentioned. “We got out in transition, we shared the ball.”
NorthCarolina (23-13) appeared an extended shot to make the event with a 1-12 report in Quadrant 1 video games, however was chosen Sunday due to a robust nonconference schedule and different metrics.
The Tar Heels had been out to indicate the world they belonged, and San Diego State took the brunt of it.
“Obviously, we wish we’d have given them more of a game,” Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher mentioned. “We hang our hat on our defense, and we couldn’t get stops. We knew we had to play in the 70s to have a chance, and they were up in the 90s.”
