Hubert Davis reveals multiple injuries suffered by RJ Davis vs. Syracuse

RJ Davis was the real MVP in North Carolina securing a victory over Syracuse on Tuesday.

The Tar Heels star was left bloodied and writhing in pain after drawing a charge on Syracuse’s Judah Mintz with less than 11 seconds remaining, and the referees upgraded it to flagrant one upon review. North Carolina led by one at the time, and took the victory to the bank afterwards.

Hubert Davis was naturally concerned with the health of one of his star players, and rushed onto the court to check on him. Speaking with the media afterwards, he provided a positive update on his guard.

“I don’t fully know — I mean, RJ’s fine. He got hit a number of times. He had a dislocated finger on his shooting hand. He got hit in the nose. Then the last one, the charge that he took, he got hit in the eye. So he’s pretty banged up,” started Davis. “In terms of being alert and aware, he’s fine.”

It’s fantastic news to hear that Davis is doing fine after the myriad of incidents, and Davis couldn’t stop raving about the guard’s “difference-making” toughness as he continued.

“He’s tough. His willingness to stick his body — sacrifice his body out there on the floor. It’s a difference-maker for us,” added Davis. “When he had a chance to win the game. Loose balls. In the beginning of the year, one of the things that we were doing, in transition, we were allowing teams to convert. We talked about if we turned the ball over, we had to get back in transition and not allow teams to be able to score. Because RJ is usually back there — he’s the one man who’s back in terms of defensive balance. He’s the last line of defense.

“The way he sacrificed his body today to take a couple of charges was the difference-maker for us.”

It’s indisputable how important RJ Davis is to the Tar Heels operation. Continuing, Hubert Davis explained what was going through his mind at the moment, and that all he was thinking about was ensuring his star player was alright.

“He was alert, but he was hurting pretty bad,” explained Davis. “I asked the ref, could I go out there on the floor and see RJ? He just had been on the floor for awhile. There was a lot of blood. Just wanted to make sure that he was doing okay.”

Alas, it has to hurt a little less for RJ Davis knowing he secured the win for his team. It was a heroic moment, and one that’ll help the Tar Heels as they look to continue climbing back up the ladder.