UNC basketball notched their second straight victory as they overcame a late SMU rally to defeat the Mustangs 82-67 on Tuesday night.
The Tar Heels (10-6, 3-1) get their third straight victory in the series, with RJ Davis leading the way with 26 points. The team shot 53.8% from the field in the second half, the seventh straight game Carolina shot over 50% in the second half. The Mustangs (11-4, 2-2) were led off the bench by Chuck Harris, who scored 18 points. SMU did record 11 steals, but was only able to score 14 points off those turnovers.
Takeaway #1: RJ Davis recovered from a slow start
The graduate student from White Plains, NY had another slow start to the game, failing to hit a basket from the field until 13 minutes left in the first half.
Davis has been working on improving the arc on his shot and this was definately evident in the second half. We went 5-of-8 from the field and scored 16 points in that half.
Been that kinda night for RJ 😆 @ariidavis_ pic.twitter.com/KclBObhAig
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) January 8, 2025
“[RJ] is in more of a rhythm now and knocking down shots and that’s exactly the way that I like it,” coach Hubert Davis said after the game.
Davis also recorded four assists in the game, which was one shy of making him the 13th Tar Heel to record 500 assist in his career in Chapel Hill.
Takeaway #2: SMU kept getting cold from the field
Multiple times during the game the Mustangs has streaks of missing three or more shots. Nine of those missed shots were from three-point range. From the field, SMU shot 25% on 32 attempts while only connecting on two baskets from beyond the arc.
“We missed so many layups in the first half,” coach Andy Enfield said during his postgame radio interview. “And we missed wide open threes.”
Gettin’ warm #PonyUp pic.twitter.com/C209BaAaeG
— SMU Basketball (@SMUBasketball) January 8, 2025
Enfield also talked about the team’s transition defense not being up to his standards, with the Tar Heels scoring 15 points off the fast break.
Boopie Miller, a transfer from Wake Forest, was another player that could not seem to get their shot to fall. The guard out of Chicago, IL went 1-for-8 in the first half and turned the ball over three times.
Takeaway #3: Drake Powell starting to get more confidence in his shot
Outside of a 18 point performance against Michigan State in Maui, Powell has been struggling to find his shot in his first season playing college ball. Even against Campbell, the freshman out of Pittsboro, NC recorded 12 points in 30 minutes of play.
On Tuesday, however, Powell came out of the gate on fire with 11 points in the first nine minutes of the game. That included three baskets from beyond the arc.
POWWWWW 💥 @powellxdrake
14 pts in the first half. pic.twitter.com/XJTT8GATqH
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) January 8, 2025
“[Drake’s] threes in the first half really open things up for us and gave us the confidence to be able to execute on the offensive end,” coach Davis said.
Powell did cool off in the second half, but at that time the Tar Heels already had 17 point lead and players like RJ Davis had started to get hot. Carolina will need to continue getting players hot at the right time as they prepare to face off against rival NC State on Saturday afternoon.
Next up for North Carolina (10-6, 3-1): at NC State (9-6, 2-2) – Jan. 11 at 4 p.m. EST
Next up for SMU (11-4, 2-2): vs. Georgia Tech (8-8, 2-1) – Jan. 11 at 4 p.m. EST