LOUISVILLE, Ky. — RJ Davis knew he’d have to work harder to get his shots this season.
A standout senior season in 2023-24 that saw him set program records and alter the history books at North Carolina helped him win the ACC Player of the Year Award. His capability to go for 25 or even 30 points on a given night helped UNC earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. So this season, teams have honed in on the 6-foot guard more than they have in past seasons.
Louisville followed that trend on Wednesday, holding Davis to 12 points — which tied his season-low — and 4-14 shooting from the field in UNC’s 83-70 road loss. Davis made just one shot in the second half. The Cardinals flocked around Davis whenever he got the ball in the KFC Yum! Center, and when he was off the ball, they tried to deny him from catching it. Louisville would send defenders to hedge at times when Davis used a screen.
“Obviously, I was the focal point for their defense,” Davis said. “So on a lot of the ball screen actions, they did either a hard hedge or a double team. So what the coaches were telling me was, since they’re hard hedging and double teaming, get the ball out of my hands. Whether it’s with a short roll or the guy behind. And even if I did have a switch out on a defender I knew I could go by, I had all 10 eyeballs on me. So we had guys in the gap, guys in the midline, just right there. So it’s kind of hard for me to find a rhythm, because they did a good job of being on the top of the ball screens.”
Davis didn’t score until the 4:52 mark in the first half when he cut backdoor on Terrence Edwards Jr. and caught a pass from Elliot Cadeau on his way to making a layup. The rest of his points came from a stepback three, a fastbreak layup, an and-1 driving layup and two free throws. Davis also finished Wednesday’s game with four assists and three turnovers.
North Carolina was one guard short against Louisville as Seth Trimble missed his second consecutive game with an upper-body injury. Ian Jackson started in his place. Elliot Cadeau played just 24 minutes due to foul trouble, which led to Davis serving as UNC’s point guard for longer stretches of the game. He matched a season-high 37 minutes in the loss.
“Having Seth away was a huge miss for us,” Davis said. “He contributes so much to this team, offensively and defensively, and he’s a focal point for this team. Missing him was huge for us, especially to open up conference play. So we definitely miss Seth out there. He does a lot of the little things that we all need.”
UNC’s fifth-year guard is averaging 18.4 points per game, shooting 37.8% from the field and a career-low 27.5% from three. He found the range from outside in Sunday’s game against Campbell at home when he made five of his 10 3-point attempts, but he’s had one other game this season in which he shot better than 33.3% from distance. His field goal percentage is the lowest it’s been since his freshman year. Davis has taken at least 11 shots in every game this year, and Wednesday was the third time he shot less than 30% from the field.
Without the frontcourt presences of Armando Bacot and Harrison Ingram, teams have been able to use swarming defenses on the perimeter to defend against Davis. Face-guarding was a tactic teams resorted to towards the middle of last season, and now, UNC’s opponents are sending bigger defenders to bother Davis with length.
With the added defensive attention, Davis is doing what he can to stay the course for the 8-6 Tar Heels as he continues to look for a sustained rhythm he can carry for multiple games in a row.
“It’s a little bit frustrating, but I try to stay within the game, try not to let it affect everything else in my game,” Davis said. “So defensively (on Wednesday), I got a couple of good steals and good boxouts, so kind of just not letting that affect my game when I know they’re trying to take away my offense. But it does take a little bit of wear and tear, because I’m working a lot harder to get the ball, to catch the ball and when I do have the ball. I knew that coming into this year, just because of the year I had last year.”