UNC basketball secures victory at Virginia, with breaking the losing streak being just one aspect of their achievement.
Further enhancing the intrigue surrounding RJ Davis’ remarkable performance of 42 points in Monday night’s 75-71 victory over Miami, it’s noteworthy that this achievement came just 48 hours after the senior guard struggled with a 1-for-14 shooting performance in the Tar Heels’ 54-44 win at Virginia on Saturday. Consider this backdrop as we delve into these nine remarkable facts that etched Davis into the annals of UNC basketball history:
1. Davis joined an elite group of nine other Tar Heels by scoring a career-high 42 points in a game.
2. Miami had never previously allowed more than 35 points to any Tar Heel player.
3. Davis’s career-best seven three-pointers fell just short of the UNC basketball record.
4. Surpassing Tyler Hansbrough’s previous record of 40 points, Davis set a new benchmark for the most points scored by a player in any of the 562 UNC games held in the Dean E. Smith Center.
5. Since Shammond Williams’ 42-point performance in 1998, no Tar Heel had matched Davis’s feat in regular-season ACC play, making it the third-highest total among UNC players in such games.
6. By outscoring his teammates 42-33, Davis became the first Tar Heel to do so since Michael Jordan’s 39-point game in 1983 against Georgia Tech.
7. Davis’s 56.0% contribution to his team’s total points marked the highest percentage since George Glamack’s 59.2% in 1940-41 against Clemson.
8. The 34-point difference between Davis’s 42 points and his highest-scoring teammate, Harrison Ingram’s eight points, set a new record for the largest margin in Tar Heel history.
9. This victory marked the first time since 2011 that the Tar Heels secured a win with only one player reaching double-digit points.
In addition to these impressive milestones, Davis’s stellar performance propelled him into the top 10 on UNC’s all-time scoring list, tying with Brad Daugherty at 1,912 points, with three regular-season games and postseason action still ahead.
