UNC defeats Arkansas in Battle 4 Atlantis behind RJ Davis’ 30 points; Tramon Mark injured

Friday was going to be the difference for North Carolina as to whether its trip here to The Bahamas became a positive memory, or not; whether this could be viewed as the kind of experience that might portend good or even great things for these particular Tar Heels, or whether it might be fair to argue that whatever ailed them a year ago still lingered, fair or unfair.

To put it more simply, UNC really needed a victory here on Friday against Arkansas. November games are never must-wins — not exactly, given the natural ebbs and flows of a long season — but this was about as close as it gets. That was true because of what the Tar Heels endured the day before, during an emotional, tough overtime loss against Villanova.

“The thing that I talked to them about last night,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said, “was that the only thing that you really have control over is your response and your reaction. Whether good things happen, or bad things happen, the only thing you have control over is how you respond and how you react.”

The Tar Heels needed a positive response after Thursday and especially, in the more macro sense, after all of last season. UNC is still trying to prove it’s past the bad vibes that hung around this program a season ago, weighing it down like an anchor. The Tar Heels simply couldn’t afford to come out to The Bahamas, to this island the locals call Paradise, and leave the Battle 4 Atlantis with consecutive defeats against the best two teams it played here.

And so, yes, UNC’s 87-72 victory on Friday at Atlantis was important. The hope, for UNC, is that there’ll be far more important ones than this one, which was for third place in a Thanksgiving week tournament, played in a ballroom or convention center with temporary bleachers that give the place the feel of a high school gym.

But to get there, and to those greater moments UNC hopes will come throughout the next several months, the Tar Heels needed the kind of performance they delivered on Friday.

Onto the takeaways:

1. Credit this UNC victory to RJ Davis

In his four college seasons, Davis has turned in his share of memorable performances. The one he provided Friday was right up there, with Davis willing his team to victory. His 30 points tied his career high. Twenty-one of them came in the second half.

“Credit to my teammates, they know when to find me,” Davis said afterward. “And I think the great thing about this team is we’re all unselfish. We look to get good to great shots, and we all look to find the hot hand. And today it was me, and the next game it might be someone else.”

Davis made a variety of critical plays in the second half, especially. You could take your pick as to which was the most important. But how about the one when he drove from the right wing and made a short baseline jumper with about six minutes to play?

Fouled on the shot, Davis made the free throw to give UNC an 11-point lead, and just when things were starting to feel a little iffy for the Tar Heels. Earlier in the half, Davis twice gave UNC the lead after the Tar Heels had struggled their way into halftime. His 3-pointer with about 15 1/2 minutes to play put UNC ahead for good and his breakaway layup four minutes later felt like an emotional turning point of the game.

2. Arkansas star Tramon Mark injured

Tramon Mark led the Razorbacks with 34 points but left the game after falling hard on his lower back with 1:12 to play.

Mark drove the left side of the lane and, while off-balance and trying to pass the ball around UNC center Armando Bacot, made contact with Bacot and fell awkwardly to the court under the basket. Training staff members from both teams tended to him as the game was delayed.

A stretcher was rolled onto the court and it carried Mark off the court to receive further medical attention.

After the game, other than saying Mack’s injury is to his back — not to his head or neck — Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said he didn’t have any other information about Mack’s condition.

3. An inspired start for UNC, and then ... ?

All was well for the Tar Heels through about 10 minutes here on Friday. They delivered exactly the kind of start they needed after an emotional, difficult overtime loss the day before. They were active and disruptive on defense. Crisp on offense. And at the midway point of the first half, UNC held a 23-11 lead against Arkansas.

And then?

Well, and then it got ugly. The Razorbacks outscored UNC 27-12 during the final 10 minutes before halftime, a period in which the Tar Heels did little right. UNC stopped forcing turnovers. It committed more on the other end. It looked sluggish on offense, and defense. It had no answer, defensively, for Tramon Mark, whose 20 first-half points were just six short of his career high.

4. The second-half response, though, was there, with a lift from Seth Trimble

It was gut-check time for the Tar Heels after halftime. They had a choice: fight or fold.

The fight, at least, was there. Through the first seven minutes of the second half, UNC outscored Arkansas 19-10, to take a 54-48 lead. UNC’s contingent of fans here in The Bahamas was on its feet not long after, too, when Arkansas threw the ball away and committed a turnover.

A Seth Trimble 3-pointer from the right corner gave the Tar Heels their then-largest lead, at seven, with about 12 minutes to play, and then RJ Davis scored in transition to extend it to 59-50 with 11:21 to play. From there, Arkansas coach Eric Musselman called a timeout.

During the first 8 minutes, 39 seconds of the second half, the Tar Heels doubled up Arkansas and outscored the Razorbacks 24-12. For the entire second half, UNC outscored Arkansas 52-34. Trimble, whose 12 points were the most he’d scored since arriving in college, made two important second-half 3-pointers, and provided a lift off the bench.

“One of the things I always tell them is that your number is going to be called,” Hubert Davis said of Trimble’s performance. “I can’t tell you when, where, how ... but when your number is called, your job and your responsibility is to be ready, and Seth was ready.”

5. What’s up with Armando Bacot?

It was not the best of weeks for Bacot, who looked a step or two slow during UNC’s first two games in Atlantis and then struggled through much of the one on Friday, too. He delivered an early three-point play against Arkansas, which provided hope for UNC that perhaps he’d quickly snap out of his slump.

But, alas. Bacot remained quiet, especially offensively. After his early three-point play, Bacot scored just two points the rest of the first half, and finished with nine, on 3-for-9 shooting. In three games here, he made just 10 of his 28 attempts from the field.

He entered Friday with 18 points and 26 rebounds through the Tar Heels’ first two games here, but a good number of those rebounds — he had 18 against Villanova on Thursday — came off of his own misses.

The good news for the Tar Heels? It won two games here without Bacot delivering anything close to his best. The bad? His funk did not end on Friday, even with UNC winning. The schedule does not get any easier for the Tar Heels and the simplest way to put it is that they need more from one of their senior leaders.

6. Welcome to the starting lineup, Elliot Cadeau

It was only a matter of time before Cadeau, the Tar Heels’ most heralded freshman, became part of UNC’s starting five. It happened here on Friday probably a little earlier than Hubert Davis would’ve preferred, with his team short-handed after Cormac Ryan suffered a sprained right ankle during the defeat against Villanova on Thursday.

Ryan had started all five of UNC’s games before Friday. Cadeau, meanwhile, earned some trust during UNC’s first two games in The Bahamas. He executed two plays on Thursday that showed his acumen for setting up teammates for success. On the first of those, against Villanova, he penetrated the defense and set Ryan up for a corner 3.

Then, late in regulation, he found RJ Davis, also in the corner, for a 3-pointer that tied it.

In his first start, Cadeau on Friday finished with seven points and three assists, but struggled at times defensively. That remains a work in progress for him. Foul trouble (he fouled out with about three and a half minutes to play) limited his effectiveness there, too, but it’s easy to see what’s possible.