UNC vs. Wake Forest: Player of the Game - RJ Davis

This is a standard article we put out after every game. When Carolina faceplants, picking a player of the game can be difficult. Against Miami, Al made a hard pass on picking one. RJ Davis is my pick for the Demon Deacon debacle, just so that we don’t turn this hallowed piece into a crying space.

Davis had a decent line if you glance at the box score: 18 points off 6/12 shooting, including 2/4 from three. Add five rebounds and three assists against two turnovers, and you’d say that was a good night’s work. When you see that he had a +/- of -12, it’ll make your eyes pop out of your skull.

But aside from Leaky Black’s -7 (with zero points, 1 rebound, 1 steal, and 3 fouls), RJ’s -12 was the best among UNC’s starters.

It was a BAAAAAD night at the office. Nobody was spared.

RJ did have the most efficient night shooting on the team. His 50% from the floor and 3-point line, along with his 4/5 shooting from the free throw line were good numbers. Not as good as LaRavia’s 69% or Williamson’s 78%, but better than Love’s 20% or Bacot’s 33%.

Carolina had a +12 rebounding night, including an amazing 23 offensive rebounds compared to Wake Forest’s three. The Tar Heels had 20 more offensive rebounds than Wake!!! But when you aren’t turning those rebounds into points, shooting a ruinous 33% from the field, and surrendering 30 fast break points, there’s no individual performance that can rescue UNC.

The Tar Heels begin a three-game home stand on Monday night against Virginia Tech, followed by Boston College on Wednesday, and NC State on Saturday afternoon. All of these are winnable games on paper. Hopefully, they can spark more meaningful debate on who should be player of the game, instead of leaving us resigned to who did the least harm.