Davis delivers off the bench for Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE – University of Arkansas guard Davonte “Devo” Davis came up big in a dunk contest before the Red-White game a month ago despite being the shortest of four Razorbacks competing.

The 6-3 Davis beat 6-8 Ethan Henderson, 6-7 Justin Smith and 6-6 Moses Moody.

“I think that thing is fun for the fans and it's great for the players to show a little of their personality,” Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said of the dunk contest in which his wife, Danyelle, served as the announcer.

Davis was declared the winner based on drawing the biggest cheers for his two dunks from the approximately 2,000 students in attendance.

“Devo was not the leader going in,” Eric Musselman said. “I think if we had to lay odds on who was going to win that thing, I wouldn't have put it on Devo. Everybody internally thought Justin would win it.”

Smith had two dunks in the Razorbacks' 79-44 victory over Southern on Wednesday night make ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays.

Davis had a big game against Southern too, with season-highs of 14 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists off the bench. He hit 5 of 8 shots, including his lone 3-point attempt, and 3 of 3 free throws.

Arkansas outscored Southern by 18 points in the 16 minutes Davis played.

“Devo has not flinched since the day he stepped on campus,” Musselman said. “It has not been easy for him. He's been behind a lot of players.

“He's slowly moving ahead of players because of his ability in practice to not flinch, to work. He's not a good loose ball getter – he's a great loose ball getter. He should be an elite defender.

“He's going to continue to get better as a shooter. He's not a point guard right now, but he's going to continue to work on that because playing the point in the SEC is not an easy thing.”

Musselman said Davis played the point guard, shooting guard and small forward spots Wednesday.

“He was as good as any player that played, I can tell you that,” Musselman said. “Not only did he get his hands on loose balls, but he got deflections. He runs the floor and he can create off the bounce.”

Davis had 5 points and 3 rebounds in 12 minutes in the season opener against Mississippi Valley State, didn't play in the next games against North Texas and TexasArlington, then had 4 points and 3 rebounds in 15 minutes against Lipscomb before his breakout game.

“Coming into the game not knowing how many minutes I'll play, whenever I'm out there I'm just

going to play my hardest and try to do whatever it takes to help the team win,” Davis said.

Davis was the Arkansas DemocratGazette High School Boys Player of the Year at Jacksonville last season when he averaged 21.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 8.0 assists and three steals.

Rated the 125th best player nationally by Rivals.com, seeing limited minutes or not playing at all have been new experiences, but Davis has kept a good attitude.

“Just going into practice every day, working hard, putting in all the effort I possibly can,” Davis said. “Just being patient and waiting on my turn to come in the game and play hard, defend, get loose balls and do what I've been good at so far.

“The scoring was something that I've been working on and it came into play.”

Musselman said Davis is gradually making the transition from playing in high school to the major college level.

“It's still a learning curve for Devo,” Musselman said. “But I thought [Wednesday night] was phenomenal for his confidence, and you could see his teammates were really, really excited to have him out on the floor.”

Davis is averaging 7.7 points and 4.3 rebounds in 14.3 minutes. He has six offensive rebounds.

“Being able to come in and just crash the boards — offense and defense — that's something I've been good at,” Davis said. “Coming from high school, it was easier. But coming to Arkansas, knowing that I had to do whatever it takes to get on the floor, rebounding was something I had to do.”

Guard Desi Sills said he's not surprised by Davis' rebounding ability.

“I mean, he's a dog,” Sills said. “He's hungry. When his name is called, he's going to do what it takes for us to win. He keeps on doing that, he's going to keep being on the floor and helping us win.”

Musselman said Davis reacts well to get loose balls whether on rebounds or steals.

“Great energy, great disposition,” Musselman said. “When he walks in the gym, the gym lights up with his enthusiasm. He loves being a Razorback.”

Davis said he's going to be enthusiastic and support of his teammates regardless of his playing time.

“If I'm not playing, I'm going to cheer my teammates on and I'm going to do whatever it takes when I'm on the bench,” he said. “If that means to pick people up, or just coach from the bench, whatever it takes I'm going to do that so we can be the winning team.”

Davis considered his win in the dunk contest an upset.

“I wasn't going in thinking I was going to win,” he said. “I was going in to have fun and enjoy the moment. But I actually pulled out some dunks that I never did before.”

Davis said the inspiration for his first dunk was Vince Carter, the North Carolina All-American who played 22 seasons in the NBA before retiring in 2020.

“He's my favorite dunker,” Davis said. “I threw the ball to myself and cocked it back between my legs and tried to dunk — and I actually made it. A lot of people didn't think I would do it, but I got the job done.” Davis' first dunk was a windmill. “I wasn't shocked that Devo won the dunk contest because I knew that he had bounce out of the world,” Sills said.

Sills also wasn't surprised by Davis' play against Southern.

“The way Devo played is very impressive, but it ain't shocking to me because I know what Devo Davis can do,” Sills said. “He's an energy guy that's willing to guard the best [opposing scorer], but you can see he can also score the ball.

“He's building confidence on what he did. Even though he wasn't playing much in the first couple of games, he still manages to push through. He's still been in the gym working on his craft, and it takes a lot for a person to do that, especially as a freshman.

“If he keeps on doing what he did, he's going to be a heck of a player down the stretch.”

Davis said he was excited by his performance Wednesday, but in his postgame interview he already was turning his attention to Saturday night's game against the University of Central Arkansas.

“It feels wonderful, but now we play again Saturday,” Davis said. “We're going to put that game right there behind us. We're going to do what we need to do to get ready for UCA, and hopefully we'll come out ready to play.”