UNC basketball's Cormac Ryan defends RJ Davis after Tar Heels' season-ending loss

LOS ANGELES – For the first time in the 2023-24 season, UNC basketball’s RJ Davis finished a game without making a 3-pointer. 

It made the two-point loss to Alabama, an 89-87 season-ending defeat in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, that much tougher for Davis and the top-seeded Tar Heels.

Now, UNC (29-8) will head back to North Carolina and the Crimson Tide (24-11) will play Clemson (24-11) on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena for a spot in the Final Four.

“I just wasn’t good enough. I didn’t make enough shots. I came up short. I could’ve done better,” said Davis, who missed 16 of his 20 shots, including each of his nine attempts from 3-point range. 

“It hurts, because I know it won’t be the same group and you’re not gonna get this type group back again. It’s tough to put into perspective.” 

In the main press conference room , after his final game as a Tar Heel, Cormac Ryan came to Davis’ defense following a question about the uncharacteristic shooting performance.  

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“I've got to chime in here. You guys can write whatever you want about the game. You could talk about RJ, you could talk about the stats. You could talk about whatever. We would not be in this position without RJ Davis and Armando Bacot. Carolina wouldn't be in this position without these two guys,” Ryan said. 

“And so say what you want, there's just not a true fiber in your being that could actually believe that anything that happened (against Alabama) could be the result of something RJ did wrong, because RJ's done something incredible for this team. 

“He's done stuff that's never been done before. He's one of the greatest Tar Heels of all time. And for anybody to come and say anything negative about RJ is unacceptable, and I'm just going to say that.” 

Davis did make 8 of 9 free throws, including the go-ahead freebies in the final two minutes, and dished out seven assists. 

But the shooting struggles as a whole were too much for the Tar Heels (29-8) to overcome as they missed 30 of their 40 shots in the second half and Alabama (24-11) outscored them by 10 to complete the comeback win.

“Sometimes your shots just don't go in,” UNC head coach Hubert Davis said. 

“It stinks when it doesn't. And I don't know if that might have been the lowest percentage we shot in the half all year. It's close. ... Just came at a really wrong time.” 

It could be the final game for RJ Davis, the ACC Player of the Year and a first-team All-American. 

He has a fifth year of eligibility remaining if he wants to return, but Davis was noncommittal when asked about his future plans. 

“I don’t really know. I haven’t even thought about it,” he said. 

“I haven’t even put into thought what that would look like, just because I’ve been living in the present moment. I don’t really know what to say or how to answer that question right now.” 

Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached atrbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on X/Twitter.