Davis' Career-High 36 Leads MBB To 85-64 Win Over Wake

Monday, January 22

Chapel Hill

7 PM

North Carolina

16-3,8-0ACC

Wake Forest

13-6,5-3ACC

Wake Forest

North Carolina

RJ Davis

Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI

January 22, 2024 | Men's Basketball

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By: Matt Bowers

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—RJ Davis scored a career-high 36 points to spearhead a second-half explosion, and third-ranked North Carolina ran past Wake Forest, 85-64, on Monday night in the Smith Center.

After the Demon Deacons led, 34-33, at halftime, Davis hit back-to-back three-pointers in a span of 46 seconds as the Tar Heels hit 9 of their first 13 shots of the second half, including seven in a row at one point. Carolina outscored the Deacons, 52-30, after halftime.

Carolina shot 61.3 percent from the floor in the second half and 52.5 percent overall.

Davis posted his sixth 25-point outing of the season and his third career 30-point game. It was his 12th 20-point effort in 19 contests this season. He's connected on multiple three-pointers in 16 consecutive games, the longest streak in UNC history. His 14 field goals were a career high.

"RJ Davis is the best player in our league," said Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes. "He proved it tonight.

"The credit is to my teammates," said Davis. "They did a great job of knowing when to find me and vice versa. The chemistry is definitely real for us. They were in a drop cover (on the screen), so I was able to get to my spots, whether it was a pull up, floater, or [going] strong to the rim."

The Tar Heels (16-3, 8-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) have won nine in a row, last losing on December 16 against Kentucky. Wake Forest, which had won 11 of 13 entering Monday night, fell to 13-6, 5-3.

"[RJ] has an incredible ability to do a lot of things, especially scoring," Tar Heel head coach Hubert Davis said. "He can score with the ball, he can move off the ball, he has a great ability to score at the rim. He was able to get to that midrange."

Freshman Elliot Cadeau scored in double figures for the fourth time, hitting 7 of 12 field goals and finishing with 14 points. Harrison Ingram tallied 10 points and 14 rebounds, grabbing double-digit boards for the fifth time in six games and his fifth double-double of the season. Cormac Ryan scored 11.

Carolina's defense held Wake to 26.7 percent shooting in the second half and 35.6 percent in the game. The Deacons hit just 3 of 20 three-point tries (15.0 percent).

"Carolina had a championship effort tonight, especially in the second half," said Forbes. "They're one of the best teams in the country, and they played like it tonight. I have a lot of respect for their team and their players."

Hunter Sallis led Wake Forest with 18 points, 11 of which came in the first half. The Deacons had three assists on 21 baskets.

UNC dominated scoring in the paint, 48-30, and fast break points, 15-1.

"One thing I think is special for our team is that 8-0 in the ACC, undefeated at home and all that stuff doesn't really mean anything at the end of the day," said Ingram. "We are trying to win a national championship, trying to win an ACC regular season title. Every game is just one day at a time. So, it's cool to be undefeated at home, cool to be undefeated on the road, cool to be undefeated in the ACC and set records. But at the end of the day, we have Florida State on Saturday so we have to get ready for them."

How It Happened
First Half
• Both teams started slowly offensively. Carolina missed 7 of 9 shots (including its first five three-point tries) and the Demon Deacons missed 6 of 8 prior to the first media timeout. UNC eventually missed 10 of its first 13 shot attempts.
• Despite the slow start, the Tar Heel defense kept the game close and Wake never led by more than two in the first half. UNC dominated points in the paint, 24-14 but had just one assist on 13 first-half buckets.
• UNC was 0 for 8 from three-point range in the first half. Carolina did not make a three pointer in a half for the first time since going 0 for 11 in the first half against Notre Dame on 2/22/23.
• Carolina went on a 10-0 run to take a 22-14 lead, marking the 13th game this season the Tar Heels have had at least a 10-0 run. Last season, Carolina had at least a 10-0 run in 13 games the entire season.
• Jae'Lyn Withers provided a nice spark off the bench in the early going, chipping in four points and four rebounds in the first half.
• Sallis made 5 of 8 shots and scored 11 in the first half for the Deacons.

Second Half
• Carolina made 9 of its first 13 shots coming out of the half while forcing Wake to miss 13 of its first 17 in the first nine minutes of the half.
• The Tar Heels eventually hit 19 of 31 tries in the second half (61.3 percent).
• Meanwhile, Wake shot poorly for much of the second half, ultimately finishing at 26.7 percent in the half, including 0 of 9 three-pointers.

Postgame Tidbits & Notes
• The Tar Heels are 165-69 against Wake Forest, tying NC State as the most wins over an opponent by UNC.
• Carolina is 8-0 in ACC play and has held all eight opponents to 70 points or fewer.
• Dating back to last season, the Tar Heels have held ACC teams under 70 points 20 times in the last 26 games (regular season and ACC Tournament games).
• UNC has led by double figures in all eight of its ACC games and has won its last seven by double digits.
• Carolina has won nine consecutive games, its best winning streak since winning 11 in a row in 2017 (the final six games of the 2017 NCAA Tournament and the first five games of 2017-18).
• Carolina has won seven consecutive ACC games by double-digits for the first time since doing it in 10 consecutive ACC games in 1992-93.
• This is the fourth time in Carolina history the Tar Heels have won seven or more consecutive ACC games by double-digits (also 1992-93 (10 games), 83-84 (10 games); last ACC game of 1967-1968, first six conference games of 1968-1969 for seven total).
• Davis hit four three-pointers, his 16th consecutive game with multiple threes. That is the longest streak in UNC history (besting Justin Jackson's 15 in a row in 2016-17).
• Davis is the first Tar Heel to have multiple 30-point games in a season since Garrison Brooks had two in 2019-20.
• Davis is the first Tar Heel to score 30 or more points against Wake Forest since Hubert Davis had 30 on 2/8/1992.
• Davis' 36 points are the most by an ACC player in any game since 36 by Isaiah Wong of Miami on 12/7/22 vs Cornell and the most by a player in an ACC game since 36 by Cole Swider of Syracuse on 2/28/22 at UNC.
• Carolina has held its opponents below 40 percent shooting from the floor in 23 of 38 halves this season.

Up Next
Carolina will return to the road to play back-to-back road games at Florida State (Saturday January 27) and at Georgia Tech (Tuesday January 30). UNC's next home game will be on Saturday February 3 against Duke.

Follow Tar Heel basketball on X at @UNC_Basketball and @UNCMBBstats and on Instagram at UNC_Basketball.