Hubert Davis reveals text from R.J. Davis ahead of offensive explosion vs. Georgia Tech

Sophomore guard R.J. Davis bounced back in a big way for North Carolina on Saturday against Georgia Tech. Last Saturday, Davis had a disappointing performance offensive, missing all ten of his field goal attempts, including five missed shots from three-point range. He made two free throws in the game, a 74-58 victory over Virginia.

Against Georgia Tech a week later, Davis responded with an offensive explosion, leading North Carolina to a 23-point victory. In the 88-65 win, Davis made eight of his eleven field goals, including four of his six three pointers. He scored 21 points, also adding six assists and five rebounds.

Following the strong bounce back performance, North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis opened up about the conversations he had with his young star after last weekend’s game. The first-year head coach said that he remained confident in Davis, saying that he played well against Virginia despite what shows up on the stat sheet.

“After the game against Virginia, I texted him after the game, and I told him how proud I was of him,” Davis said. “I think in that game he was 0-for-10, but I thought he played great. I thought his defense was fantastic, I thought he took care of the basketball. He got us into sets, he made the right play. I told him he was great. And then he texted me back, he goes, ‘I’ll hit the shots next time.’ I said, ‘I thought you played great. It’s not about shots.’

“And so I know, shooting 0-for-10 against Virginia, I know he wanted to come out and wanted to shoot the ball better. So he was 8-of-11 and had 21 points. He had another really good game today. But I thought he played great. And he was 0-for-10 against Virginia. But I know from an offensive standpoint, he’s a guy that can really shoot the basketball. And he wanted to shoot the ball better this game.”

Davis is one of North Carolina’s top scorers

Interestingly, the stat line from North Carolina’s win over Georgia Tech is nearly identical to when the two teams met earlier in the season. The two teams met in early December, and Davis scored 23 points. In that game, he shot 8-of-11 from the field, including 4-of-6 from deep, his exact shooting numbers from the most recent contest.

In scoring just two points against Virginia, Davis broke a streak of four consecutive games as a double digit scorer. It was just the third time this season he has been held to single digits. Through 16 games, Davis ranks third on North Carolina’s roster, averaging 13.4 points per game. He is shooting 47.7 percent from the field and 43.9 percent from deep.

Davis also leads the Tar Heels with 3.8 assists per game, and is second on the team with 31.6 minutes per game. North Carolina is 12-4 thus far in the first year of the Hubert Davis era.