PORTLAND, Ore. — A loud, spontaneous Hog Call broke out in Veterans Memorial Coliseum as Arkansas and North Carolina headed to their respective benches for a media timeout with 3:32 remaining in a second-round matchup Friday at the Phil Knight Invitational.
Arkansas senior guard Jaylen Barford had just converted a tough and-1 finish, the latest in a flurry of quick Razorback baskets as they threatened to rally from a 16-point deficit against the defending national champions.
Barford sank the free throw after the timeout, bringing the run to 10-0 and cutting North Carolina’s lead to 74-68.
The Razorbacks didn’t score again. North Carolina closed the game with a 13-0 run highlighted by a thunderous Theo Pinson dunk and Luke May 3-pointer, pulling away down the stretch for an 87-68 victory.
It was reminiscent of the Tar Heels’ 12-0, game-ending run in their 72-65 win over Arkansas in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in March. Down the stretch of both games, North Carolina took over.
“We felt like we ran out of gas a little bit,” senior guard Anton Beard said. “We went on that little 10-0 run and then we could never get over that little hump that we had. We’d shoot ourself in the foot and we’ve just got to learn how to make them plays at the end.”
Beard played a game-high 38 minutes, the result of what became a shorthanded Arkansas guard rotation after an apparent ankle injury to senior Daryl Macon and foul trouble for senior Jaylen Barford. Barford still finished with a team-high 21 points, but Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said he “didn’t know” the severity of Macon’s injury or his status for Sunday’s third-place game against UConn.
The Razorbacks (4-1) didn’t have an answer for Maye. The junior forward scored a career-high 28 points on 11 of 16 shooting. He also pulled down a career-best 16 rebounds and dished five assists to counteract a career-worst five turnovers.
Maye, the hero in the Tar Heels’ Elite Eight win over Kentucky last year, did it all, scoring inside over tight defense and knocking down 4 of 5 3-pointers.
“Maye was in a zone,” Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. “No matter where he caught the ball, he was a threat.”
Maye is averaging 21.2 points per game and has scored 20 or more in four of North Carolina’s first five games this year. His 16 rebounds, including five on the offensive end, were a big part of the reason North Carolina (5-0) outrebounded Arkansas 46-30.
“Guys, I think they’re trying to guard him,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. “They’re not giving him carte blanche. Hell, (they’re) not saying, ‘Go ahead and go to the basket.’ You think those other coaches are dumb. He’s got a double-double every game, three out of five.”
North Carolina began to take control in the latter stages of the first half.
Arkansas was within 20-19 with 5:24 left in the first half after sophomore guard C.J. Jones hit a corner 3-pointer, but the Tar Heels closed with a 17-6 run to lead 37-26 at halftime after what amounted to the Razorbacks’ worst offensive half of basketball this season.
Part of it had to do with foul trouble. Freshman center Daniel Gafford picked up two quick fouls and was limited to three first-half minutes and Barford sat the final 7:33 after picking up his second.
But the Hogs were stagnant in the halfcourt, averaging 20 seconds per possession, a massive uptick for a team that entered the day ranked 34th nationally in offensive pace, averaging just 14.8 seconds per possession.
“I feel like they was in the lanes on us, all the way up,” Beard said. “I felt that we didn’t execute our offense well.”
Arkansas entered the game shooting 50.6 from the floor for the season but wound up shooting a season-low 37.5 percent against the Tar Heels.
The Tar Heels stretched the lead to 16 early in the second half, but the Hogs rallied with a 9-0 run with Gafford in the game. He was in again during the 10-0 run to cut the deficit to six late, a stretch that included nine points in the span of a minute on two Jones 3-pointers and Barford’s and-1.
Jones played a career-high 26 minutes as a result of Macon’s absence and finished with 12 points. He missed some open looks, but hit the two big ones in the run and finished 4 of 10 from 3-point range.
“This is something to build on with C.J.,” Anderson said. “C.J.’s all about confidence. We’ve seen what he’s capable of doing in practice each and every day. The only way you gain experience is getting out there and playing. What better venue than a tournament experience, someone goes down and you’ve got to have the next guy up.”
Arkansas employed a zone look during the 10-0 run that seemed to throw North Carolina off. The Tar Heels didn’t score for more than three minutes as the Hogs clawed back into it.
“I think it gave them trouble just a little bit, just to show them a different defense and mess their heads up a little bit,” Barford said. “I think it worked just for that run we made, but I guess they got adjusted to it and started making plays on it.”