# BREAKING: ‘LAST GO-AROUND’ – RJ Davis Goes Nuclear from Deep, Drops 26 in Perfect 6-of-6 Night as No. 9 UNC Crushes San Diego State 94-68 in Players’ Vegas Showdown | Daily Tar Heel Exclusive
**Las Vegas, NV – November 18, 2025** – RJ Davis is making sure every single person in the building knows this is his final ride.
In what he has repeatedly called his “last go-around,” North Carolina’s fifth-year senior guard and reigning ACC Player of the Year turned the Thomas & Mack Center into his personal shooting gallery Friday night, torching San Diego State for 26 points on a flawless 6-of-6 from three-point range — tying a Carolina single-game record for most made threes without a miss — to lead the No. 9 Tar Heels to a commanding 94-68 rout in the opening round of the Players’ Era Vegas Showdown.
The performance was vintage RJ: ice in his veins, swagger in his step, and a message to the entire country that the 6-foot, 180-pound guard from White Plains, N.Y., is playing with a different kind of hunger in his farewell tour.
“I told y’all before the season — this is my last go-around,” Davis said postgame, sweat still dripping, a wide grin across his face as the Carolina traveling contingent chanted “One more year!” from the stands (a plea he politely ignored). “Every game, every possession, I’m leaving it all out there. Tonight felt good. Real good.”
Good is an understatement.
Davis was unconscious from the moment he checked in. His first triple — a heat-check pull-up from 28 feet with a hand in his face — splashed at the 17:42 mark of the first half and set the tone for what would become a San Diego State nightmare. By halftime he already had 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting and 4-of-4 from deep, single-handedly outscoring the Aztecs’ entire bench. The sixth and final make came with 8:12 left in the game, a catch-and-shoot corner three in front of the UNC bench that sent Hubert Davis fist-pumping and the Carolina sideline into hysterics.
He finished 9-of-12 from the floor, 6-of-6 from three, 2-of-2 from the line, with 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and zero turnovers in 31 minutes. The six perfect threes tied the UNC record held by Shammond Williams (1998 vs. Colorado) and Marcus Paige (2016 vs. Northern Iowa in the NCAA Tournament). More importantly, it pushed Davis past the 2,300-point mark for his career — good for No. 7 on Carolina’s all-time scoring list — and kept the Tar Heels perfect at 7-0 heading into a showdown with either Notre Dame or Houston tomorrow night.
San Diego State, the same program that ended Carolina’s 2023 season in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, had no answers. Brian Dutcher threw everything at Davis — Miles Byrd, Nick Boyd, even double-teams off ball screens — and nothing worked. Davis used screens like a veteran point guard, relocated like a sniper, and punished every closeout that was a half-second late.
“RJ was unbelievable,” Hubert Davis said. “That’s the best shooter in America right there. When he gets going like that, you just get out of the way and watch the show.”
The Tar Heels as a whole were sensational. Elliot Cadeau flirted with a triple-double (12 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds), Seth Trimble continued his defensive clinic with 4 steals, Ian Jackson threw down two poster dunks that broke Twitter, and Jalen Washington added a quiet 14 and 8. But this night belonged to No. 4 in powder blue.
The Daily Tar Heel’s front-page headline Saturday morning will read exactly what the Carolina students were chanting all second half: “LAST GO-AROUND.”
Because that’s exactly what this is for Davis — a victory lap with teeth. After returning for his COVID senior season despite being a projected first-round pick last April, Davis has made it clear: one goal, one banner. Everything else is noise.
He’s averaging 21.9 points through seven games, shooting a ridiculous 47.8% from three on nearly seven attempts per game, and has scored 20+ in six straight contests. Defenses are throwing the kitchen sink at him — traps, box-and-ones, face-guarding — and he’s picking them apart like it’s a layup line.
The Vegas crowd — a pro-Carolina contingent that turned the Thomas & Mack into a mini Dean Dome — gave him a standing ovation when he checked out with 2:18 left. Davis slapped the scorers table, pointed to the “CAROLINA” across his chest, and soaked it in.
“These fans traveled all the way out here,” he said. “I play for them. I play for my teammates. I play for Coach Davis and the staff. And yeah, I play for that sixth championship.”
San Diego State’s Magoon Gwath summed it up best in the handshake line: “That dude’s different.”
Different indeed.
With the win, Carolina advances to the Winners’ Bracket final tomorrow night against the winner of Notre Dame-Houston with a chance to play for the Players’ Era title on Saturday. A potential top-5 ranking awaits next week. And RJ Davis — the heart, soul, and flamethrower of this 2025-26 team — just served notice that his last go-around is going to be one nobody forgets.
Six for six from three.
Twenty-six points.
One mission.
As the Tar Heels boarded the bus back to the Strip, one phrase echoed through the locker room:
Last go-around, baby.
And it’s just getting started.
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