Three takeaways from No. 9 North Carolina basketball’s runaway win over Charleston Southern
The No. 9 North Carolina Tar Heels had earned a break.
After playing five top-20 opponents — the first time UNC has played five consecutive non-conference games against ranked opponents — the Tar Heels capped off 2023 with a 105-60 victory over Charleston Southern. The Friday night win at the Smith Center marked the largest point total and margin of victory for UNC under Hubert Davis.
Senior guard RJ Davis led all scorers with 20 points, 10 assists, five steals and no turnovers — the first Tar Heel to record that stat line.
“For me to be the first to ever do it is truly a blessing,” RJ Davis said. “I’m honored and grateful.”
The Tar Heels quickly established a comfortable lead, going on a 14-0 run midway through the first half. Nine of those points came from UNC’s bench, with Jalen Washington and Seth Trimble adding seven and two, respectively. Both sophomores ended the game with career-highs in points.
After a 51-28 halftime score, freshman point guard Elliot Cadeau’s 3-pointer pushed UNC’s lead to 31 points with 16 minutes remaining. From there, the Tar Heels continued to cruise and leaned into their reserves, racking up a season-high 43 bench points.
Here are three takeaways from the win.
Jalen Washington holds his own
A Gary, Indiana, native, Jalen Washington produced 17 points and seven rebounds — career-bests in both categories.
“I put so much work in this offseason,” Washington said. “It was more mental things. Telling myself, ‘You just gotta keep shooting it. Keep shooting it.’ When you see a couple go in, it feels really good.”
Hubert Davis said he’s been playing Washington alongside graduate center Armando Bacot in practice. Given Washington’s performance on Friday and his versatility on offense – from hitting pull-ups in the post to knocking down two 3-pointers — it’s a lineup fans may see more often come conference play.
RJ Davis displays more tools
To hear the ACC leading scorer tell it, RJ Davis is more lost in the game now than he’s ever been.
“Being my senior year, I just wanted to go out with a bang and do it all,” Davis said. “It doesn’t matter if I’m scoring — just impact the game somehow, someway.”
After turning the ball over five times in UNC’s loss to Kentucky, Davis said he wanted to cut down on his errors and be more “attentive with the ball.”
On Friday, Davis became the second Tar Heel to record 10 assists and zero turnovers this year, with Cadeau being the first. It was also Davis’ first point and assist double-double, tacking on another impressive performance to the senior’s recent tear of eight straight 20-or-more point games.
UNC bench gains valuable minutes
In UNC’s last four games entering Friday, its bench scored a combined 43 points. It makes sense, considering the onslaught of top-15 opponents the Tar Heels came face-to-face with over that stretch — No. 10 Tennessee, No. 5 UConn, No. 14 Kentucky and No. 7 Oklahoma (per AP rankings at the time of each matchup).
Against Charleston Southern, North Carolina matched that 43-point mark in a single outing.
Graduate forward Jae’Lyn Withers had five points and two assists and Trimble gained more experience running the point. All 14 rostered Tar Heels saw the floor, with junior forward James Okonkwo — who had played a total of 10 minutes before Friday — laying the ball up on a dish from Withers to reach the 100-point threshold that triggered a free biscuit promotion.
“I was just really excited by a number of guys coming off the bench, having career-highs, getting that rhythm and getting that confidence,” Hubert Davis said, “because that’s something that’s going to be needed heading into conference season.”
This story was originally published December 30, 2023 at 6:00 AM.