Arkansas senior guard Johnell Davis — the former Florida Atlantic transfer who struck fear in the hearts of AAC opponents a season ago — showed glimpses of his former self in a loss against No. 23 Ole Miss on Wednesday at Bud Walton Arena.
The wing was immaculate in the 20 minutes, as he nailed three triples and converted a pretty layup in transition to end up with 11 points by halftime. He was kept mostly quiet in the second half, but did make four free throws to finish with 15 points.
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It was a nice change of pace for Davis, who had been struggling with inconsistency for most of the young season.
"My team and the coaches have been on me this whole time just staying confident," Davis said after the game. "Just trying to find the flow back.”
Before the Ole Miss game, Davis had hit 35.8% of his three-point attempts in 12 games and was averaging 8.4 points per contest. That included a zero-point effort against No. 1 Tennessee on Jan. 4.
"(Johnell is) getting better," head coach John Calipari said after the game. "He’s getting better and he’s getting more comfortable. I like the fact that he got to the foul line. He’s a really good foul shooter. Well, you can’t shoot all threes.
"After he made some shots, he had some one-handed catches, which took away another opportunity to shoot. Just grab it and shoot. He went (with) one (hand) and kind of fumbled, I think two of them. I said, ‘You can’t do that. You’re took good a scorer for us.’ But no, Nelly, he did what it took to get us up nine (in the first half). So he did some good stuff."
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Part of the reason Davis has gotten off to a shaky start this year is because of a wrist injury he nursed in the offseason and has still struggled with recently. But now Davis says he's healthy and ready to attack the rest of Arkansas' schedule.
"Nah, all that’s behind me now," Davis said. "I’m onto the next."
Up next, the Razorbacks will welcome the No. 8 Florida Gators to Bud Walton Arena on Saturday. That game will tip off at 3 p.m. CT and will air on ESPN.
