Davis’ 42 breaks Smith Center record
TOP 25 MEN
NO. 9 NORTH CAROLINA 75, MIAMI 71
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — After a huge first half, RJ Davis saw no reason to back off.
Davis poured in four straight three-pointers during a riveting second-half stretch on his way to a career-high 42 points, and No. 9 North Carolina held off skidding Miami 75-71 on Monday night.
“I kind of felt good most of the game,” Davis said. “Came out hot. I told myself since I had a good first half to continue to stay on it. I was aggressive and shots were falling. For me to have a performance like that tonight means the world to me.”
Davis, a senior guard who set a single-game Smith Center scoring record, had 21 points in each half. He picked up the pace with a dazzling display with less than 7 1/2 minutes to play, and ended up shooting 7 for 11 on threes.
The only player for the Tar Heels (22-6, 14-3 ACC) to score in double figures, Davis went 1 for 2 at the free-throw line with 24.4 seconds remaining to give UNC a 73-70 advantage.
“It wasn’t just his points,” Coach Hubert Davis said. “I thought he was great defensively, took care of the ball. We needed every bit of his 42.”
Norchad Omier had 22 points, Bensley Joseph scored 21 and Kyshawn George added 14 to lead Miami (15-14, 6-12), which lost its seventh game in a row.
Omier missed a hook shot in the lane that could have tied it with about 45 seconds left. Then twice in the last 25 seconds, North Carolina secured offensive rebounds off missed free throws.
“That was a valiant effort on our part,” Miami Coach Jim Larranaga said. “RJ Davis had an answer every time we made a run.”
North Carolina, with three regular-season games remaining,
Crocker-Johnson earns another OVC honor
UALR forward Jaylen Crocker-Johnson earned his eighth Ohio Valley Conference freshman of the week honor of the season, the league announced Monday. Crocker-Johnson became the seventh player in OVC history to earn the distinction eight times in a season.
Crocker-Johnson provided the Trojans, who are on a seven-game win streak and tied for first in the OVC standings with Morehead State and Tenn.-Martin, with 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2 blocks per game in a pair of wins over Lindenwood (82-73) and Southeast Missouri State (83-61).
He shot a combined 10 of 13 in the pair of victories and went 3 of 3 from the freethrow line in each game. For the season, Crocker-Johnson is averaging 9.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists and just under a block per game while shooting 50.8% from the field.
UALR will close the season with games against Tennessee State on Thursday and Tennessee Tech on Saturday, both at home.
— Democrat-Gazette Press Services
stretched its ACC lead to 1 1/2 games over second-place Duke.
Davis racked up the most points for a Tar Heels player since Shammond Williams scored 42 in a 1998 double-overtime win at Georgia Tech.
“He put us on his back and took over the game,” forward Harrison Ingram said. “RJ took the ball and [let’s] see what he does.”
Miami got close after trailing 64-50, even with Davis completing his outburst with four three-pointers in slightly more than three minutes for a 13-point lead before the four-minute mark.
“I’m just locked in, just confident in myself and my shot,” he said.
The game marked the largest gap in North Carolina history between its leading scorer and second-leading scorer (Ingram had eight points).
NO. 15 BAYLOR 62, TCU 54
Ja’Kobe Walter and Yves Missi scored 16 points each while Jalen Bridges added 15 for the No. 15 Bears, who bounced back after two consecutive losses to ranked opponents.
Both teams shot less than 40% from the field, but a 9-of-22 (40.9%) effort from three-point range helped Baylor (20-8, 9-6) pull away in the second half and take sole possession of fourth place in the Big 12 standings. Jameer Nelson Jr. led TCU (19-9, 8-7) with 11 points and four assists. The Horned Frogs had more steals (7) and blocks (6) than made three-point attempts (5).
TOP 25 WOMEN NO. 8 UCLA 53,
NO. 13 COLORADO 45
Kiki Rice had 20 points and nine rebounds, Charisma Osborne added 14 and No. 8 UCLA defeated 13th-ranked Colorado. The Bruins moved into a three-way tie for second in the Pac12 with two games remaining. UCLA improved to 22-5 overall and 11-5 in the league.
UCLA blew a 12-point, first-half lead before recovering in the third. The Buffaloes fell to 20-7 and 10-6 in conference play with their fourth straight loss.
Jaylyn Sherrod led Colorado with 10 points before fouling out late in the game.
SWAC MEN TEXAS SOUTHERN 77, UAPB 70
A game-changing run in the second half lifted Texas Southern (12-14, 10-5 Southwestern Athletic Conference) to a crucial victory over the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff at H.O. Clemmons Arena in Pine Bluff.
P.J. Henry scored 25 points for the Tigers, who were staring at a 60-50 deficit after UAPB’s Trejon Ware hit a free throw with 7:57 left in the game. But Henry knocked down a three-pointer 12 seconds later to start a 16-0 run for Texas Southern. A lay-up from Kenny Hunter with 4:25 to go gave the Tigers their first lead of the game, 61-60, since they held a 25-23 advantage at the 4:55 mark in the first half.
The Golden Lions stopped the streak when Joe French nailed a three-pointer, but Texas Southern responded with a pair of three-pointers of its own on back-to-back possessions to maintain its lead and eventually send UAPB (1216, 7-8) to its second loss in its last three games.
Jonathan Cisse added 17 points for the Tigers. French and Kylen Milton both had 20 points for the Golden Lions.
SWAC WOMEN UAPB 81, TEXAS SOUTHERN 62
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff may have been without its top player, but it had enough to drive past Texas Southern at H.O. Clemmons Arena in Pine Bluff.
Coriah Beck finished with 21 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists as UAPB (15-13, 10-5 Southwestern Athletic Conference), which was without leading scorer Zaay Green for the second game in a row, essentially clinched a spot in next month’s league tournament. Maya Peat had 18 points and 14 rebounds, while Kalia Walker added 15 points and 7 assists. Tia Morgan chipped in with 13 points.
Daeja Holmes had 18 points for Texas Southern (5-21, 4-11). The Tigers beat UAPB 85-80 in the team’s first meeting in January, but they fell into a 38-29 deficit by half and was outscored 23-10 in the third quarter. Nya Harmon ended with 13 points, and Taniya Lawson followed with 12 points.