RJ Davis struggled mightily from the field in a Saturday slog against Virginia.
He bounced back on Tuesday with a career game that made North Carolina history while adding a big boost to his All-America campaign.
Davis torched Miami for a career-high 42 points that set a new scoring record for UNC's Dean Smith Center in a 75-71 win. North Carolina needed every bit of Davis effort as the Tar Heels fended off a late Hurricanes rally that threatened to spoil his big night.
Back-to-back Davis 3-pointers and a pair of free throws gave UNC a 72-59 lead with 3:31 remaining. But Miami reeled off 11 unanswered points to cut North Carolina's lead to 72-70 with 1:30 remaining.
Davis broke the scoring drought with a free throw to extend UNC's lead to 73-70 with 24 seconds remaining. But he missed the second and combined for Armando Bacot and Seth Trimble to miss five straight shots from the line down the stretch with the chance to ice the game. But Miami couldn't capitalize, and Jae'Lyn Withers hit a pair from the stripe with 2.6 seconds remaining to seal the game after securing a rebound of Trimble's second miss.
The night lifts Davis' name among North Carolina greats. Tyler Hansbrough previously held the Smith Center record with a 40-point performance against Georgia Tech in 2006. The Smith Center's hosted UNC basketball games since 1986 and been home to program greats including Vince Carter, Jerry Stackhouse and Antawn Jamison.
Davis is also the first North Carolina player to score 40 points in any arena since Harrison Barnes did so in the ACC tournament in 2011. He posted his historic night just two days after shooting 1 of 14 from the field in tough road win over Virginia.
Davis, appropriately, helped secure the Carolina victory. He broke the UNC scoring drought with a free throw with 24 seconds remaining to extend the lead to 73-70. But he missed the second