North Carolina rallied from 21 points down during a frantic second half to defeat Dayton in the Maui Invitational. It was the second largest comeback in Tar Heel history. (11/26)
RJ Davis, who led the way with 30 points including 20 in the second half, and freshman Drake Powell, who had hit only one three-pointer all season, swished back-to-back threes to give the Tar Heels an 88-87 lead with 1:13 to go.
Davis sank four straight free throws in the last 14 seconds and the Heels survived what would have been a tying three-pointer from Dayton that was correctly ruled a two after review as the Tar Heels took the improbable victory.
Down by 18 at the half, Carolina pushed the action in the second half, outscoring the Flyers 59-39 in the last stanza.
“If we want to play at an elite level we have to start at the beginning of the game,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “But I’m so proud of their fight in the second half – it showed a lot about their character.”
The game was nip-and-tuck early as there were three ties and seven lead changes until Dayton went on a furious 11-0 run over the span of just 90 seconds. Three different Flyers hit threes during the spurt, which ended with Dayton up 34-22 with 6:29 left in the opening half.
Dayton, which is averaging eight three-point field goals per game, hit seven threes in the first half alone and finished with a season-high 14. But it was the Tar Heel turnovers that set the tone for the first half.
Carolina, which averages just seven turnovers per game, turned it over five times in the first four minutes and finished the first half with 12 turnovers. The Flyers took advantage by scoring 19 points off of those Carolina miscues to take a commanding 51-33 lead into the half. UNC had only three turnovers in the second half to finish with 15 total.
Carolina was down 56-35 early in the second half when the Heels started chipping away. A three from UNC freshman Ian Jackson cut the margin to 14 with just over 14 minutes to go. A Davis three from the right wing got the deficit to single digits at 66-58 with 10:17 left.
The Heels cut it to three on several occasions but couldn’t get over the hump until free throws from Seth Trimble followed by those threes from Davis and Powell put Carolina up for good at 88-87 in the closing two minutes.
Joining Davis in double figures was Trimble, who had career highs in scoring (27) and rebounding (10), and Eliot Cadeau, who fought foul trouble to score 10.
Nate Santos led six Flyers in double figures with 15 points as previously unbeaten Dayton fell to 5-1.
Carolina, now 4-1, take on No. 4 Auburn at 11 p.m. Tuesday in the semi-finals of the Maui Invitational. The Dayton game started at 11:45 Monday.