UNC senior guard RJ Davis made history on Monday, setting the North Carolina record for most consecutive games with multiple 3-pointers at 16.
Granted, they came a little later than the No. 3 Tar Heels (16-3, 8-0 ACC) may have hoped in their eventual 85-64 win over Wake Forest (13-6, 5-3 ACC). After UNC went a combined 0-8 from behind the arc in the first half, Davis' first buckets from distance helped launch an 18-4 North Carolina run to quell a previously feisty Demon Deacon squad. Despite a 1-point Wake Forest lead at halftime, a career-high 36 points from Davis propelled the Tar Heels to their ninth straight win.
"We need that from RJ every game," UNC head coach Hubert Davis said.
RJ Davis' career-high put him in some elite company. He became the first Tar Heel to score 30 or more points against Wake Forest since Hubert Davis (in 1992) and the first Tar Heel to record multiple 30-point games in a season since Garrison Brooks (in the 2019-2020 season), to name just a few accolades.
"It was a surreal moment," RJ Davis said. "It felt great just to hear the crowd chant my name and for me to have a phenomenal game like that — especially here at North Carolina. I'm all smiles right now."
After building an already substantial lead in the second half, the Tar Heels began to toy with Wake Forest: a Davis floater here, a Cormac Ryan turnaround fadeaway jumper there. Oh, and an Armando Bacot block or two.
With a minute left, North Carolina first-year point guard Elliot Cadeau began to visibly slow the pace as the Tar Heels drained the clock. But before North Carolina could end the game for good, Davis hit one last 3-pointer — this one several feet behind the arc — before being subbed out of the game and greeted with a standing ovation from the home crowd.
"That's a bad man," UNC graduate guard Jae'Lyn Withers said, reflecting on Davis' final shot. "I couldn't do nothing but give him the stank face. It was a crazy tough shot. I mean, it was a heat check at that point."
North Carolina will return to action on Saturday at 2 p.m. as the Tar Heels face Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla.
