For RJ Davis, hearing people question, all week, whether he and his North Carolina teammates deserved to be in the NCAA Tournament hurt him.
Tuesday night in the First Four in Dayton, Ohio, Davis and his teammates used those slights as motivation and put that hurting on San Diego State.
Davis scored 26 points, knocking down all six of his three-point attempts, tying a school record, as the Tar Heels blew out the Aztecs 95-68 in Dayton, Ohio, advancing to face Ole Miss in Milwaukee, Wis. Davis’s six threes tied Caleb Love’s school record for an NCAA Tournament game. Love had six against UCLA in 2022. The Tar Heels lost in the national championship that season.
“We know we deserve to be here,” said Seth Trimble, who added 16 points. “We’re not looking to send a message to anybody else. We’re just looking to compete as a team, and be the team that we know we’re capable of being.”
San Diego State had a 2-0 lead for 25 seconds. UNC then spent the next 39 minutes and 5 seconds making its case. The Tar Heels went on a 20-2 run to open up a 33-13 lead with 6:32 left before halftime. North Carolina made 60.8 percent of its shots and was 7-of-9 on three-pointers to build a 47-23 halftime lead. UNC was dominant on both ends of the floor.
The second half was more of the same. The final margin was North Carolina’s biggest in an NCAA Tournament victory since blitzing Texas Southern by 39 points in the first round in 2017.
“There’s a lot of emotions on Sunday and just traveling, getting here,” Davis said. “But I think at the same time, we were ready, mentally and physically. It was a quick turnaround, but we were ready, and I think we showed that.”
Tuesday’s victory doesn’t end the controversy surrounding UNC’s selection, just as a Heels’ loss in the First Four wouldn’t have proven it was a mistake.
But it certainly was a big step toward quieting the haters.
And it was a measure of sweet vindication for a Tar Heels team that spent the 50-plus hours since hearing its name called on Selection Sunday absorbing a chorus of negativity bashing that inclusion.
”This group has been one of the best at staying connected and staying the course through windy and turbulent times and also clear-sky days, as well,” coach Hubert Davis said. “It doesn’t surprise me that they played one of their better games today. It’s been a real focused group.”
The questions started coming fast and furious following the Tar Heels 74-71 loss to rival Duke in the ACC tournament quarterfinals, a game the Blue Devils played without ACC player of the year Cooper Flagg (ankle) and one UNC had a chance to tie in the waning seconds if not for a lane violation by Jae’lyn Withers on a free attempt.
Withers had a double-double Tuesday, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
Sunday’s announcement that the Tar Heels were in the field as an 11-seed playing in the First Four, only ramped up the criticism of Carolina’s resume.
“For us to be considered an 11 team and to have people asking, ‘Do you think you’re a tournament team?’ That irks my soul,” Davis said during a press conference in Dayton on Monday. “Because I know we are and I know what we’re capable of. It’s really just about proving ourselves right (more) than people wrong.”
That was certainly the popular narrative in much of the national media, which spent the first half of the week cutting down North Carolina, one of college basketball’s bluebloods. They poked the Tobacco Road bear – and San Diego State paid the price.
