DAYTON, Ohio — RJ Davis and his North Carolina teammates appeared to be in the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday night.
Davis scored 26 points and 6 points from the 3-point range, silenced the skeptics in a 95-68 victory that dominated San Diego State in their first four matches.
UNC was a controversial NCAA choice on Sunday, but Tar Heels performed like a team with something to prove.
“We know we deserve to be here,” junior guard Seth Trimble said.
North Carolina coach Hubert Davis said his players were simply focused on the work in front of them.
“I don't think it's weight to us to try to participate in the NCAA tournament,” he said. “My communication with them is about focusing on us. It's not an outside noise from a comment or critic's perspective. It's focused on preparation, practice, play.”
Some hot shooting from long ranges didn't hurt.
RJ Davis' six three pointers tied together the program records for NCAA tournament game Caleb Love. Love had six people against UCLA in 2022.
Hubert Davis went 5-5 in 1991 against eastern Michigan.
“As a head coach, I don't know what it would look like to be there if he wasn't on the sidelines and on the floor. I don't want to think about it,” Hubert Davis said of RJ Davis.
The 14 3-pointers were the most for North Carolina in the NCAA tournament game.
In 2022, we released 13 against Marquette.
“I know I hit a record 3-second hit here, but I went back and forth between shots,” Hubert Davis said. “What I was most proud of was that we were getting stolen and biased, and we thought our defense was really good.”
Trimble scored 16 points on the tar heel in the matchup for No. 11 seed. They went on to play No. 6 seed Mississippi in Friday's South Regional game in Milwaukee.
Nick Boyd and Wayne McKinney III each scored 12 points on the Aztecs (21-10).
Northcarolina shot 61% in the first half, earning 7 out of nine from the 3-point range. RJ Davis' long three just before the halftime buzzer gave the Tar Heels the biggest lead to that point 47-23.
“I think we stuck to the game plan and did a good job playing Carolina basketball,” he said. “We went out during the transition and shared the ball.”
Northcarolina (23-13) seemed like a long shot that made a tournament with a 1-12 record in a Quadrant game, but was chosen on Sunday thanks to a strong non-communication schedule and other metrics.
San Diego was taking the brunt of it as the Tar Heels were trying to show the world they belonged to.
“Obviously we hope they've given them more games,” Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher said. “We put hats on our defense, but we couldn’t stop, and we knew we had to play in the '70s to get a chance.
