North Carolina basketball had one of the most incredible wins so far in the 2024-25 college basketball season on Monday night.
The Tar Heels were looking like they were on their way to suffering an upset loss at the hands of the unranked but dangerous Dayton Flyers in a The Maui Invitational Presented by Novavax game at Lahaina Civic Center in Maui, Hawaii, as North Carolina basketball trailed by as many as 21 points.
But Seth Trimble and the Tar Heels did not stop competing. North Carolina clawed its way back from a huge deficit and managed to come out on top with a 92-90 victory when it was all said and done on the floor.”
“Heart, will, determination,” Trimble told NCAA.com correspondent Andy Katz when asked what it took North Carolina basketball to pull off the comeback victory.
“We've been here before this year, unfortunately already. So we kind of came into the half with some mean words from each other, but some truthful words to get each other going, pushing each other. But we, kind of made a promise to ourselves that, ‘Hey, we're not going out today. Dayton was a very good team, but we're not going out in the first round.”
Seth Trimble, RJ Davis power North Carolina basketball's wild win

North Carolina's vaunted backcourt stepped up anew for the Tar Heels. Trimble had a stellar performance against Dayton, as he racked up 27 points on 10-for-14 shooting from the field and 5-for-5 from the foul line. He also grabbed 10 rebounds in 33 minutes. Meanwhile, RJ Davis paced the Tar Heels with a 30-point production, shooting 8-for-19 from the floor and hitting 10 of his 11 tries from the free-throw line.
Davis echoed Trimble's take as well following the contest, as he tried to explain the victory.
“I would just say it's heart and not giving up and wanting to compete and wanting to win,” Davis shared (h/t Brian McInnis of Spectrum News). “The starting five and the bench. We went into that locker room, obviously some explicit words being said. That was in a way of trying to get everybody to compete hard. They were kicking our butts on both ends of the floor. Outhustling us, out-toughing us. We didn't allow that no more in the second half.”
The Tar Heels' aggressiveness paid off, as they relentlessly challenged Dayton's defense. North Carolina was rewarded with 34 free-throw attempts, which the Tar Heels turned into 27 points.
North Carolina, which improved to 4-1 overall this season, will next take on the Auburn Tigers in the semifinals of the tournament this Tuesday.