NCAA Tournament 2017, North Carolina vs Arkansas: Highlights, score and recap

The North Carolina Tar Heels look for another dominant March Madness performance as they face the Arkansas Razorbacks in the Second Round

After a dominant First Round win in the 1-16 matchup to begin the 2017 NCAA Tournament, the North Carolina Tar Heels hoped that momentum would continue on Sunday. Still playing in Greenville, SC, a Second Round date with the Arkansas Razorbacks awaited them. Though the Razorbacks were talented, they seemed like a stepping stone for the Tar Heels.

And right out of the gate, that was the narrative that seemed to be playing out. Justin Jackson and Joel Berry (who suited up after suffering a turned ankle of Friday) led the way and controlled just about every facet of the game for North Carolina. Subsequently, they jumped out to a massive first-half lead. At one point, the regular season ACC Champions were up by 17 points and seemed to be on the verge of running away from Arkansas.

However, these Razorbacks didn’t panic and didn’t lose their resolve due to the early deficit, no matter how sizeable. They started calming down on offense as reserve guard Daryl Macon came up huge with his long-range shooting. What’s more, Moses Kingsley anchored the defense and completely took North Carolina out of their rhythm on that end of the floor. All told, that effort allowed Arkansas to cut the lead to just five going into halftime.

RELATED: Updated 2017 NCAA Tournament bracket

Whatever momentum that they had to end the first half, it most certainly carried into the second half for Arkansas. They continued to force North Carolina’s offense to press and not get any good looks, or at least too few of them. What’s more, they continued to hit from long range and come up with key buckets.

After continuing to chip away at what was left of the Tar Heels’ lead, the Razorbacks looked like they might turn the tide and run away with it. They pushed their lead to five points, but Jackson and Isaiah Hicks wouldn’t let the Heels die, both coming up with key scores and the latter with a few pivotal rebounds.

Things got a bit dicey in the final two minutes of play, first when Arkansas ran the shot clock down and tried to get an attempt off from three, up by one. It looked as if the shot might’ve been tipped, but when it air-balled and landed on the baseline, it was ruled UNC ball. They even reviewed the play and couldn’t determine that it was tipped.

On the ensuing possession, the Tar Heels burned clock and then Berry drove down the right side of the floor. There was a big collision, but no whistle was blown in favor of either team as Berry threw up a one-handed shot with little effort. The ball was live and Kennedy Meeks was there with a huge putback amidst a bunch of confused looks over a sure-to-be controversial no-call. That gave North Carolina the three-point lead.

Arkansas got another good look at a three, but it was no good, after free throws, the Tar Heels were able to survive a scare that shouldn’t have been, advancing to play Butler in the Sweet 16.

Highlights

Three Stars

Kennedy Meeks, North Carolina – An unsung hero normally, Meeks was huge for the Tar Heels in this game. He finished the night with 16 points, 11 boards (six offensive) and three blocks.

Daryl Macon, Arkansas – The reserve guard came off of the bench and scored 19 crucial points to go along with three assists and a steal.

Justin Jackson, North Carolina – Jackson didn’t have a normal game shooting the ball, but his overall stat-line was absurd. He finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, five assists and five steals in the controversial win.

Next Game

North Carolina now moves on to play the Butler Bulldogs in the Sweet 16, a game that will be played on Friday. Tip time is still to-be-determined.