Devo does it: Freshman sends Hogs to Elite Eight

Devo did it.

University of Arkansas freshman guard Davonte “Devo” Davis hit an 8-foot jump shot with 3.1 seconds left to lift the Razorbacks to a 72-70 victory over Oral Roberts on Saturday night in Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis in the NCAA Tournament South Region semifinals.

The No. 3 seed Razorbacks (25-6) advanced to play No. 1 seed Baylor in the region final Monday night. Baylor advanced by beating Villanova 62-51 on Saturday.

The 6-3 Davis elevated over 6-6 Kareem Thompson for the game-winning basket after catching a pass from Jalen Tate.

“It’s a dream come true,” said Davis, who is from Jacksonville. “I’ve never thought about something like this.

“Coming into this season, I was just trying to come in and make sure that I compete and make sure that we win games. Being able to compete for a national championship is crazy.”

Arkansas held on to beat No. 15 seed Oral Roberts (18-11) when sophomore guard Max Abmas — who scored a game-high 25 points — had his three-point attempt at the buzzer bounce off the rim as Davis and Tate contested the shot.

Abmas rushed the ball up court after catching an inbounds pass from Thompson.

“Putting the ball in Max’s hands and allow him to make a decision,” Golden Eagles Coach Paul Mills said of the strategy. “We gave him a pass option, and we gave him a dribble option.

“To his credit, he’s super bright … had great court awareness, had great selection on the shot. Unfortunately, it didn’t go in.”

When Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman led Nevada to the Sweet 16 in 2018, Loyola-Chicago beat the Wolf Pack 69-68 after Marques Townes hit a three-pointer with 6.2 seconds left that gave the Ramblers a four-point lead.

“It was a side-step three almost in the exact same spot on the floor,” Musselman said of comparing the shots by Abmas and Townes. “We had defended it perfectly, and they made the shot.”

Arkansas didn’t put a defender on Thompson when he inbounded the ball on the last play because Musselman said he wanted Davis and Tate to cover Abmas.

The strategy, Musselman said, was to have Davis and Tate make Abmas use as much clock as possible while getting in position to shoot — and not to foul him.

“He got a look obviously,” Musselman said. “We did not want to foul. That was the last thing we want to do is foul one of the best free-throw shooters in all of college basketball.”

Tate, a senior graduate transfer guard, led the Razorbacks with 22 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds.

“We ran one of our go-to plays late in the game,” Musselman said of Tate’s pass to Davis. “Devo just kind of read it and ran a snake action to semi bend it or curl it. I thought Tate made the right read.”

Davis had 16 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists. He hit 7 of 13 shots.

“Devo’s a shot creator,” Musselman said. “For a freshman, that’s a pretty big stage to ask him to do what we ask him to do defensively and then to hit some of the shots that he hit.

“Even in the first half, I thought his dribble drive — when he sliced through the defense — was our best offensive play in the first half.”

Davis played only nine minutes when Arkansas beat Oral Roberts 87-76 on Dec. 20 in Walton Arena, but he has started the last 13 games and played 34 minutes on Saturday night.

“It’s been really, really neat and cool to watch him continue to grow and to watch his confidence continue to grow,” Musselman said.

Arkansas freshman guard Moses Moody shot 4 of 20 from the field, but he hit 6 of 7 free throws, had 7 rebounds and finished with 14 points.

Senior forward Justin Smith had 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Razorbacks. His 11 offensive rebounds helped Arkansas have an 18-8 edge in second-chance points.

Carlos Jurgens scored 13 points for the Golden Eagles, and Kevin Obanor had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Musselman credited Davis for his defense against Abmas, who hit 8 of 19 shots and couldn’t quite match the 29 and 26 points he scored in the Golden Eagles’ NCAA Tournament victories against Ohio State and Florida.

The Razorbacks rallied from a 12-point deficit — just as they did in their 87-76 victory over Oral Roberts earlier this sesaon — to go from trailing 46-34 with 15:21 left to taking a 66-62 lead on Davis’ rebound basket with 2:43 remaining.

“We knew we had to play harder,” Davis said of the comeback. “That’s all it was. We weren’t playing hard. We were playing slow. We were letting them slow us down, and that’s not what we needed. We’re a fast team.”

Oral Roberts didn’t fold and took a 69-68 lead on Obanor’s three-point play with 1:48 left.

Tate’s jumper in the lane at the 1:34 mark put the Razorbacks ahead 70-69.

The Golden Eagles had a chance to take the lead when Francis Lacis had two free throws with 31.5 seconds left, but he missed the first attempt before hitting the second to tie it 70-70.

Arkansas then worked the shot clock down and Davis delivered in the clutch.

“I love this team,” Davis said. “I love this community, and I love the coaching staff.

“I feel that we’ve come a long way for sure. Me as a freshman, I’ve come a long way as well, from not playing, to now having the freedom Coach Muss gives me.”