The biggest talking point coming out of Selection Sunday and into the First Four on Tuesday night surrounded North Carolina basketball. The Tar Heels were shockingly included in the NCAA Tournament despite a 1-12 record in Quad 1 games this season, making them a complete anomaly among past at-large teams.
You wouldn’t have been able to tell it by Tuesday’s game in Dayton. North Carolina came out with its hair on fire, splashing 3-pointers from all over the court and stifling the inept San Diego State offense on its way to a blowout 95-68 victory to advance to the Round of 64.
North Carolina was spearheaded by star guard RJ Davis, who literally could not miss from the outside. Davis finished the night 6-for-6 from 3-point range, breaking the previous UNC record for most makes without a miss from downtown in a tournament game, per Inside Carolina. Davis was splashing triples from all over the place, and the Aztecs never had an answer for him.
Davis broke Hubert Davis’ record of 5-for-5 from three, so the North Carolina head coach got a front row seat to watch his own record get broken. Davis’ six 3s also ties the North Carolina record for 3-pointers in an NCAA Tournament game, joining his old teammate Caleb Love, Marcus Paige and Shammond Williams.
Davis’ hot shooting spread to the rest of his team as North Carolina blitzed a very good San Diego State defense. The Tar Heels set their program record for most 3-pointers made in a tournament game as a team with 14, breaking their previous record of 13 set back in 2022.
If North Carolina can keep that hot shooting going, it will be a very tough out in the bracket despite the qualms with its inclusion in the field in the first place. Davis and company get No. 6 seed Ole Miss in the Round of 64 before a possible date with No. 3 seed Iowa State, which is playing without Keshon Gilbert.
This North Carolina basketball team will feel good about that draw, especially coming off of such a strong performance. It will have two days off before a date with Chris Beard and the Rebels in Milwaukee on Friday.
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