North Carolina avoided disaster despite a late collapse. An undermanned Miami team, down two starters, rallied from double-digit deficits throughout the second half to make it a fight to the finish. UNC ultimately held on for a 75-71 win, extending its winning streak to 3 games and improving its record to 22-6 and 14-3 in the ACC.

Here are 3 quick takeaways from the game:

Miami hangs around, refuses to roll over

Miami wasn’t supposed to give UNC much trouble on Monday night. The Hurricanes entered the game 6-11 in ACC play on a 6-game losing skid. Carolina was favored by 14.5 points at many sportsbooks.

The Canes played to win until the final buzzer, unfazed by double-digit deficits in one of the toughest road environments. When UNC established a 12-point lead at 50-38, Miami answered with an 8-0 run.

When 64-50 became UNC’s new largest lead, the Canes quickly cut it to 64-57. Back-to-back triples from the Tar Heels got it back to 70-57 before the final media timeout.

Carolina appeared ready to cruise to a conference win in the final minutes, but Miami wasn’t done fighting back. The 72-59 lead with 3:45 to go was down to 72-70 with 1 minute to go after the Canes managed an 11-0 run.

Despite no field goals in the final 4:17, the Tar Heels held on at home.

RJ Davis does the heavy lifting with a special night

RJ Davis deserves all the credit for Carolina avoiding an embarrassing slip-up. The standout guard went off for 42 points, a new Dean Smith Center record and a personal career high.

Davis set the tone by scoring 21 in the first half, securing a 37-32 lead for the Tar Heels. Davis was 8-of-12 from the field in the first half, going 3-of-4 from 3-point range to reach double figures in just 17 minutes of playing time. With 21 more points in the second half, he finished 14-of-22 from the field, including 7-of-11 3-pointers.

Davis was the only Tar Heel to score in double figures. His teammates accounted for 12 assists.

March Madness watch

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi posted Monday that the UM game was a must-win for UNC to stay in the hunt for a No. 1 seed. Lunardi currently has North Carolina as a No. 2-seed, and No. 6 overall.

Carolina got the win. It won’t do much to move the needle, though. Miami entered the game ranked No. 91 in the latest NET rankings, and the margin of victory was much closer than expected.

UNC will look to extend its winning streak and improve its resume against NC State on Saturday.