CHAPEL HILL, NC – The Zone is more of a feeling than a place.

It’s that magical, mystical sensation of Zen in which an athlete feels as though he can do no wrong. And in the case of a basketball player, every shot is destined for the bottom of the net.

The feeling doesn’t usually last long. Sometimes only for a few minutes.

That’s what makes the roll RJ Davis is on all the more incredible. The North Carolina star has been a premier player on the ACC’s highest-profile team for the past 2 seasons.

But he has raised his game even higher this year. And it continues to reach new heights seemingly every game.

Monday night against Wake Forest, Davis set a career high with 36 points to lead the 3rd-ranked Tar Heels to their 9th consecutive win. All by double digits.

The scoring total that highlighted the 85-64 win, however, isn’t even the most impressive aspect of Davis’ performance. He basically did whatever he wanted – scoring from long range by going 4-of-8 from beyond the 3-point arc, on contested drives at the rim and on soft floaters in the lane.

And he did it without committing a turnover, leading the sellout crowd to start chanting his name after hitting 1 final step-back 3 as an exclamation point to his career night.

In the process, Davis put himself among some elite company. All of whom have their numbers hanging from the Smith Center rafters.

His 36 points were the most on UNC’s home court since Tyler Hansbrough scored 39 against Clemson in 2008. They were the most by any Tar Heel since Brice Johnson scored 39 at Florida State in 2016.

And they were the most by a UNC player against Wake Forest since his coach, Hubert Davis, went for 30 way back in 1992.

It was the kind of performance that would make you shake your head and say “wow.” That is unless you’re a member of the Tar Heels who have been watching him do it on almost a daily basis.

“A lot of the stuff he did tonight is stuff he works on every day,” Davis’ teammate Jae’Lyn Withers said. “That boy shoots the laces off the ball. When it’s going up, it’s either good or it’s supposed to go.”

It would be easy to chalk Davis’ emergence as the ACC Player of the Year frontrunner to an external factor such as the departure of his former backcourt mate Caleb Love.

As many have.

It’s true that Love’s transfer to Arizona has been a positive for both players. Like Davis, Love is also thriving. He’s averaging a career-high 18.2 points while playing a major role for a team ranked among the top 10 in the nation.

Love’s absence has allowed Davis to play off the ball more and benefit from the creative playmaking skills of pass-first freshman point guard Elliot Cadeau. And the chemistry among this year’s Tar Heels both on the court and in their locker room is exponentially better.

That was never more explicitly evident than Monday night.

It was against Wake Forest last season that UNC’s internal issues came to a head. It was an uninspired loss that led to a contentious 45-minute closed door meeting in the locker room.

This time, instead of Armando Bacot admonishing teammates that “if you don’t want to be here … just go home,” Cadeau was imploring Davis to shoot again so he could surpass his previous career high of 30.

Still, pinning the increase in Davis’ production solely on his separation from Love would be a disservice to the work the senior guard has put into broadening his game. It might be a clichè, but his teammates insist that he’s almost always the first one in the gym every day and among the last to leave.

And the results are palpable.

More important, he’s taken the Tar Heels along for the ride. His scoring, ability to play under control, commitment to defense and leadership have been key elements to the surge that has catapulted UNC to the top of the conference standings and back to its familiar spot near the top of the national polls.

“I’m just really proud of him,” Hubert Davis said. “He’s had a terrific career. But I feel like this year he’s finally getting noticed.

“I think it’s more than just being able to score. There’s a feeling of comfort and confidence, him being a senior, him being here (for 4 years), the guys he’s playing with. That’s growth.”

RJ Davis has a different way of describing it.

“I’m in a zone,” he said. “I feel like I’m in my backyard just hooping, just trying things out. I think it’s a zone that every hooper knows. You can’t hear anything. You just see the ball and the basket.”

These days the ball seems to be going through the basket almost every time it leaves his hand.

Although upon further introspection, he did admit to hearing a few things. Like his name being chanted in unison by 21,175 Tar Heels fans in the stands.

“That was like a surreal moment,” Davis said. “It felt great. To me to have a phenomenal game like that is something you only dream of, especially here at North Carolina. I’m all smiles right now.”

If he can find a way to stay in The Zone through the 1st Monday of April, he won’t be the only one in Chapel Hill doing the smiling.