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 UNC 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 UNC a 59-50 lead with 11:21 left.
UNC 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 UNC (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 Razorbacks led 38-35 at the break behind 20 points from Mark. UNC 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 UNC.
No. 9 Duke 80, Southern Indiana 62
DURHAM — Ninth-ranked Duke didn’t have the defensive intensity or frankly the effort to match a pesky one-win opponent for much of Friday night’s first half. Coach Jon Scheyer saw more from his Blue Devils “in flashes” in the second half, yet also gave him plenty to highlight for improvement, too.
Kyle Filipowski had 21 points and 14 rebounds while Duke waited until the second half to push ahead for good in an 80-62 win against Southern Indiana. Still, Duke ended this game with multiple starters playing to the horn against a team that had yet to beat a Division I opponent this year.
“I mean, nobody’s happy about this,” said Duke guard Jeremy Roach, who added 18 points. “The game should’ve been over in the first half. But give credit to Southern Indiana: They’re a great team and came in with house money and played their (butts) off.”
The Blue Devils (5-1) fell behind by 10 points six times before halftime and trailed 35-31 at the break. But Duke closed the first half with better energy and aggression at both ends, then rode that wave to build its own double-digit lead and get what Scheyer called a “jolt” of energy by running out a trapping full-court pressure that forced two 10-second violations.
The Blue Devils trailed 32-22 with 5:02 left before going on a 25-5 run through 9 1/2 minutes. That included the first 11 points out of the break, including two 3-pointers from freshman Jared McCain and back-to-back two-hand flushes from Filipowski at the 15:34 mark.
That margin got no closer than nine again, with Duke shooting 60.7% after halftime.
Compare that to the first half, when the Screaming Eagles (1-6) kept scoring off the dribble or hitting contested shots — enough so that Scheyer burned a timeout midway through the first half, stood on the court and delivered a lengthy emphatic message to his players.
Jeremiah Hernandez scored 15 points to lead Southern Indiana, which made 13 of 25 shots to open the game but shot 33% from there.
“If we play everybody the way we played tonight, we’re going to beat some people,” Southern Indiana coach Stan Gouard said.
The Blue Devils visit No. 20 Arkansas on Wednesday in the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge.
Wake Forest 71, Charleston Southern 56
WINSTON-SALEM — Cameron Hildreth scored 21 points, 16 in the second half, to lead Wake Forest to a 71-56 win over Charleston Southern on Friday.
The Demon Deacons went on a 15-2 run early in the second half, with 11 points coming from the foul line, to turn a 39-32 deficit into a 47-41 lead with 8:58 to play. They steadily pulled away from there.
Kevin Miller added 14 points for the Demon Deacons (3-3), and Andrew Carr and Hunter Sallis both had 12. Carr, who had 10 points in the second half, also had 10 rebounds.
Wake Forest outscored the Buccaneers 43-24 in the second half. The Demon Deacons were 20 of 22 from the line after halftime and went 11 of 23 of from the field.
DJ Patrick had 13 points for Charleston Southern (2-4), Taje’ Kelly had 12 points and 11 rebounds and A’lahn Sumler added 10 points. The Bucs shot just 27% (7 of 26) in the second half after shooting 48% (12 of 25) in the first.
Zach Keller’s dunk pulled the Deacons within 39-34 with 15:28 to play, starting the run that flipped the game. Miller followed with a pair of free throws before Hildreth had a layup and two free throws for a 40-39 lead at 12:35.
Sumler scored for the Buccaneers, but Carr made five free throws and Sallis had a pair before Charleston Southern scored again.
It wasn’t until Sallis made a layup at 4:10 that the lead reached double figures at 57-47. Carr’s 3 with two minutes to play finally put the difference in double figures for good at 62-51.
The second game of Wake Forest’s seven-game homestand is against Florida on Wednesday.
UNC Greensboro 76, Kansas City 64
NASSAU, Bahamas — Donovan Atwell’s 26 points helped UNC Greensboro defeat Kansas City 76-64 on Friday.
Atwell was 8-of-16 shooting, including 8 for 15 from 3-point range, for the Spartans (3-1). Mikeal Brown-Jones added 22 points with seven rebounds. Joryam Saizonou had 10 points.
The Kangaroos (2-3) were led by Cameron Faas, who recorded 18 points. UMKC also got 13 points and 10 rebounds from Jamar Brown. In addition, Anderson Kopp had 13 points and five assists.
BYU 95, NC State 86
LAS VEGAS — Jaxson Robinson scored 23 points off the bench, BYU scored 57 points in a blistering second half, and the Cougars defeated NC State 95-86 in the championship game of the Vegas Showdown on Friday.
BYU played without Atiki Ally Atiki, who was suspended for throwing a punch at an Arizona State player late in Thursday’s game.
The Cougars shot 70% in the second half, including 9 of 15 3-pointers, and made all six of their free throws.
After trailing for nearly 28 minutes, BYU took a 66-64 lead when Spencer Johnson and Trey Stewart hit back-to-back 3s midway through the second half. An 11-0 BYU run made it 85-72 with 2:40 left.
Noah Waterman scored 15 points for BYU (6-0), Trevin Knell and Dallin Hall had 13 each and Johnson finished with 11.
Casey Morsell scored 28 points, Jayden Taylor 17, DJ Burns 16 and DJ Horne 14 for the Wolfpack (4-1).
NC State spotted the Cougars a 3 to open the game, then the Wolfpack went on a 16-2 run to lead 16-5 five minutes in. BYU still trailed by 10 with about three minutes left in the half before Robinson hit a 3 and followed with a dunk to help get BYU within 43-38 at intermission.
BYU, the national leader in 3-pointers per game at 12.8, made 14 in 34 attempts and shot 56.7%.
NC State plays at Mississippi on Tuesday.
Lipscomb 86, UNC Asheville 75
MONTREAL — Will Pruitt had 19 points in Lipscomb’s 86-75 win against UNC Asheville on Friday in the Northern Classic.
Pruitt had six rebounds for the Bisons (4-2). Owen McCormack scored 18 points and added 10 rebounds. Derrin Boyd finished with 18 points and six rebounds.
Drew Pember led the Bulldogs (2-3) with 28 points and two blocks. Josh Banks added 20 points and eight rebounds for UNC Asheville. Jamon Battle also recorded 11 points, seven rebounds and two steals.
Alabama State 88, North Carolina A&T 73
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Antonio Madlock scored 25 points as Alabama State beat North Carolina A&T 88-73 on Friday.
Madlock added six rebounds for the Hornets (2-4). Isaiah Range scored 13 points, and CJ Hines finished with 10 points.
The Aggies (0-5) were led in scoring by Jeremy Robinson, who finished with 18 points. N.C. A&T also got 16 points and six assists from Camian Shell.
Saint Mary’s 89, Davidson 55
MORAGA, Calif. — Alex Ducas scored 23 points as Saint Mary’s beat Davidson 89-55 on Friday night.
Ducas added five assists for the Gaels (3-3). Augustas Marciulionis scored 17 points while shooting 6 for 11. Aidan Mahaney added 17 points.
The Wildcats (3-3) were led by Grant Huffman, who posted 13 points. Angelo Brizzi added 12 points and five steals for Davidson. David Skogman also had nine points.
