No. 12 North Carolina defeats Dayton in close opener on Maui

RJ Davis scored 30 points, including four key free throws down the stretch, to help No. 10 North Carolina stage a comeback from 21 points down to beat Dayton 92-90 in the nightcap of the opening round at the Maui Invitational in Lahaina on Monday. Hawaii.

After erasing the deficit in the second half, the Tar Heels (4-1) took the lead with 1:52 left on a 3-pointer from Davis. Dayton (5-1) responded when Malachi Smith scored from outside the arc on the ensuing possession.

But North Carolina came right back and Davis charged down the baseline and fired a bounce pass to an open Drake Powell in the corner. Powell’s 3-pointer gave the Tar Heels an 88-87 lead with 73 seconds left, and they never relinquished the lead.

However, North Carolina needed a video review to prevent a tie, as after two free throws from Davis, Nate Santos hit a jump shot from the corner. The shot under duress was originally called a 3-pointer to tie the game at 90-90.

Upon review, officials determined that Santos’ foot was inside the 3-point arc. Davis sank two more foul shots, then the Tar Heels intentionally fouled Smith to prevent Dayton from getting another look at a potentially game-winning 3-pointer in the final seconds.

Davis shot 10 of 11 at the foul line and 4 of 10 from 3-point range en route to his game-high scoring performance. He also grabbed seven rebounds and provided five assists.

North Carolina’s Seth Trimble shot 10 of 14 from the floor and 5 of 5 at the free throw line in a 27-point effort. He grabbed ten rebounds.

Santos led six Dayton scorers in double figures with 15 points. Amael L’Etang added 13 points, Smith had 12 points and Enoch Cheeks scored 11 points. All four made at least two 3-point shots, so the Flyers as a team scored 14 for 32 (43.8 percent) from deep.

Posh Alexander and Zed Key rounded out Dayton’s double-digit scorers with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Dayton went on an 11-0 run in the first half to take a 33-22 lead, and the Flyers had a 51-33 lead at the break. Their lead grew to 21 points in the opening minutes of the second half before North Carolina gradually narrowed the deficit.

The Tar Heels’ comeback ended a day in which three of the tournament’s four games were decided by two points. Memphis beat No. 2 Conn 99-97 in overtime; and No. 4 Auburn rallied from an 18-point deficit to beat No. 5 Iowa State 83-81.

–Field level media