Razorbacks beat Stanford, but fall to Memphis, UNC in Battle 4 Atlantis

PARADISE ISLAND, The Bahamas — Arkansas was down 67-61 with 7:02 left and 74-66 with just less than five minutes to play but No. 14 North Carolina was able to withstand any threats by the 20th-ranked Razorbacks for an 87-72 victory in the third-place game of the 2023 Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis on Friday afternoon.

The Hogs opened the three-day event with a thrilling 77-74 double-overtime victory overt Stanford on Wednesday, but lost on Day 2 to the Memphis Tigers by a score of 84-79 on Thanksgiving Day.

In the win over Stanford, Trevon Brazile had a career-high 17 rebounds, Chandler Lawson had career highs in rebounds (13) and blocked shots (5) while Tramon Mark scored 25 points — including eight in the two overtimes.

Arkansas led at halftime but Stanford opened the second half on a 14-5 run to lead 34-27. The Cardinal held the lead until Brazile made two free throws to tie the game at 42-all with 12:14 left in regulation. Mark made two free throws with 6:57 left to give Arkansas a 49-48 lead. Stanford answered and would lead by four twice inside the final 3:26, including a 59-55 cushion with 35 seconds left.

Mark made two free throws to cut the deficit to two. On the ensuing possession, Stanford missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with nine seconds left. Lawson grabbed the rebound and passed to Devonte Davis, who went coast-to-coast, drew a foul and sank to free throws with six seconds left to tie the game at 59-all. Stanford’s Jared Bynum missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force the first overtime.

Arkansas scored first to start the first overtime period and the Razorbacks held the lead. Arkansas looked to seal the win inside the final 20 seconds. Up two, Davis got a steal on defense and was fouled with four seconds left. He made one for a 3-point lead but Benny Gealer hit a triple just inside the half-court line to force a second overtime.

Brazile opened the second overtime with a triple and the Hogs never surrendered the lead. The Cardinal did get to with one on four occasions, including 75-74 with 45 ticks left. Mark hit a lay-up with 19 seconds left. Stanford called a timeout with seven seconds left and got off two 3-pointers, but missed them both to give Arkansas the win.

Brazile, who was 2-of-5 from 3-point range and 6-of-6 at the line, finished with 14 points to go along with his 17 rebounds. He added two assists and two steals.

While Arkansas shot just 30.3 percent from the field, the Razorbacks were 26-of-33 from the free-throw line and they out-rebounded the Cardinal 52-46. On the other end, Stanford committed 19 turnovers and was just 13of-24 from the free-throw line, including 6-of-12 in the two overtime periods.

Overall, there were 11 ties and 10 lead changes. There were five ties and six lead changes in the first half alone. The last tie was a Layden Blocker jumper to make the score 20-all with 1:31 left and Makhi Mitchell hut a hook shot with 25 seconds left to give Arkansas the 22-20 lead at the break.

Seven Razorbacks scored in the first half, including six from ark, while Brazile grabbed seven rebounds. Arkansas did not allow Stanford to get an offensive rebound, but the Cardinal kept it close as the Razorbacks shot just 26.7 percent from the field (1-of-8 from 3-point range).

In the loss to Memphis, David Jones scored 36 points, including crucial back-to-back 3-pointers to close the first half, to lead Memphis to an 84-79 victory Thursday night in the semifinals.

In the game, Davis crossed the 1,000-point plateau with a 3-pointer with 1.9 seconds left in the game. He finished with 15 points, making three 3s, and now has 1,001 points to become the 46th Razorback to reach the milestone in an Arkansas uniform.

Overall, the stats the similar with the following exceptions. Arkansas committed 18 turnovers with just seven assists as the Tigers outscored the Razorbacks 2710 on points off turnovers. Also, Arkansas was whistled for three technical fouls, leading to five Tiger free throws in the five-point loss.

Memphis led by five at halftime thanks to Jones’ two 3-pointers and both teams scored 42 points in the second half.

Jones was 10-of-14 from the field (4-of-8 from 3-point range) and made 12-of-14 from the line while adding five steals. He led the Tigers with 17 first-half points, making all six of his shots from the field including three 3-pointers.

Khalif Battle led Arkansas with 21 points, going 8-of-11 at the line and 3-of-4 from 3-point range. For the second consecutive game, Brazile recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds (seven offensive). Mark added 12 points.

In the loss to UNC, the outcome took a back seat to an injury suffered by Mark, who left the game on a stretcher with 1:12 left in the game. The junior was having his best career game with 34 points, making 13-of-17 shots (including 4-of-6 from 3-point range) and had a teambest five rebounds. Mark later was released from the hospital.

North Carolina was down three at halftime but shot 58.6 percent from the field in the second half while outrebounding the Razorbacks 20-12 to secure the win.

R.J. Davis led North Carolina with 30 points (10-of-10 from the free-throw line) with 21 of his points coming in the second half. Harrison Ingram finished with a doubledouble (13 points and 10 rebounds) and Seth Trimble scored 11, making a pair of key 3-pointers in the second half.

Arkansas closed the first half on a 15-4 run, including an 8-0 spurt that turned into a 12-1 run. Mark scored seven and Blocker had a steal and dunk with three seconds left before the break to put the Hogs up 38-35.

Mark scored 20 in the first half, going 8-of-8 from the field and making both of his 3-pointers. while Blocker finished with 11 points and three steals.

Arkansas returns home to welcome Duke to town tonight in the inaugural SEC-ACC Challenge. Tip-off at Bud Walton Arena is set for 8:15 p.m.