Davis scores 30 and No. 14 North Carolina beats No. 20 Arkansas for 3rd place at Battle 4 Atlantis

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RJ Davis scores 30 points to power UNC to win over Arkansas

RJ Davis scores 30 points to help North Carolina defeat Arkansas 87-72.

Nov 24, 2023, 08:57 pm

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- — RJ Davis matched his career-high with 30 points, Harrison Ingram had 13 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, and No. 14 North Carolina beat No. 20 Arkansas 87-72 on Friday in the third-place game of the Battle 4 Atlantis.

Arkansas' leading-scorer Tramon Mark took a hard fall on an off-balance layup attempt and stayed on the floor for several minutes before being lifted onto a stretcher with 1:12 remaining.

Mark, who scored 34 points, and Davis joined Villanova’s Eric Dixon (34) and Memphis’ David Jones (36) as 30-point scorers in the tournament. Davis scored 21 of his points in the second half.

Davis made a fast-break layup to cap an 11-2 run and give North Carolina a 59-50 lead with 11:21 left.

North Carolina had three-point play opportunities on back-to-back possessions, to foul out Makhi Mitchell, and Davis made his free throw for a 72-61 lead. Seth Trimble sank a 3-pointer from the corner, on a nice cross-court pass from Ingram, for a 77-66 advantage.

Trimble finished with 12 points for North Carolina (5-1). Elliot Cadeau fouled out for the second straight game. Cormac Ryan did not play after injuring an ankle in the final seconds of overtime against Villanova.

The Tar Heels went 25 of 35 from the free-throw line, with 10 straight from Davis, compared to Arkansas' 15 of 20.

Mark was 13 of 17 from the field, 4 of 6 behind the arc and 4 of 7 at the free-throw line to top his previous high of 26 points, coming in a Sweet 16 matchup with Auburn in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Layden Blocker added 11 points for Arkansas (4-3).

The Razorbacks led 38-35 at the break behind 20 points from Mark. North Carolina started the game making 9 of 18 shots, but made just one of its next nine as Arkansas took a 35-32 lead. Cadeau got a friendly bounce on a 3-pointer to tie it at 35-all and end a 12-1 run.

Both teams play another ranked opponent on Wednesday in the ACC/SEC Challenge. Arkansas hosts No. 9 Duke and No. 7 Tennessee travels to North Carolina.

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