When the UNC and Arkansas men’s basketball teams face off at 1 p.m. ET on Friday, Nov. 24, it’ll be for third place in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament – held annually over Thanksgiving week.
It’ll also be the Tar Heels and Razorbacks’ third meeting since 2015, plus their second-straight November matchup. When Carolina and Arkansas last met – on Friday, Nov. 24 in the 2017 Phil Knight Invitational, it was the boys in baby blue who emerged with an 87-68 victory.
The most memorable matchup, if you recall, was likely the 2017 NCAA Tournament clash on Sunday, March 19 in Greenville, S.C.
UNC was the top seed and heavy tournament favorite, which gave it a huge target on its back. The Tar Heels rolled through their opening-round matchup against Texas Southern, but got a huge test from one of the SEC’s best.
Arkansas was up five points in the final three minutes, which is just enough of an advantage to make an opponent go into desperation mode. The Razorback were about to give Carolina a second-consecutive year of disappointment.
What UNC did next, was thanks to its veteran roster, led by the likes of Joel Berry, Kennedy Meeks, Isaiah Hicks and Nate Britt. . The Tar Heels closed the game out on a 12-0 run, putting themselves one step closer to their eventual, sixth National Championship.
Carolina could really use a win against this year’s Arkansas squad, as it lost a heart-breaker to Villanova last night.
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