Out with the old, in with the new.
A shiny, new milestone thanks to an old but familiar repetition: graduate guard RJ Davis confidently draining two 3-pointers. A wide smile spread across Davis’ face as he pointed to his assistant coach Marcus Paige at the right end of the bench. A graphic appeared on the jumbotrons in the Dean E. Smith Center: 300 career made triples for Davis — the most in UNC history.
After growing up watching Paige set the North Carolina 3-point record, Davis followed in his footsteps. But for Davis, his record-breaking performance wasn’t just about replacing a face at the top of the record books, but seeing “old vintage RJ” come back.
“I'm in a mindset right now where it's just like, 'Let it fly,'” Davis said. “I'm either going to make it or miss it, and then live with the result.”
And Davis sure did let it fly in UNC’s 97-81 win over Campbell on Sunday night in the Dean E. Smith Center, giving flashes of his stellar shooting of last season. The guard cashed in for five 3-pointers on 50 percent shooting from deep to record the most made 3-pointers in North Carolina basketball history and lead the Tar Heels to the win in the last non-conference game of the regular season.
“I think him just playing with confidence, really, we all know him as that type of player that he is – we’ve seen it in practice, we’ve seen it in games,” first-year forward Drake Powell said. “But for him to have this one, I think that was really big for us as a team and him as a player.”
It’s no secret that the preseason All-American has suffered through a shooting slump to begin his fifth season. The veteran guard has averaged 25.5 percent from beyond the arc this season — unable to surpass 40 percent 3-point shooting in any of UNC’s last 12 games.
From AAU to All-American performances, the 3-pointer has been a key shot for Davis that has characterized his game throughout his basketball journey. Repetitions have been the most important factor to strengthen his shot over time.
