Davis, Williams beginning to emerge in SEC play

FAYETTEVILLE — The heralded group of in-state signees Arkansas brought in this season yielded a Day 1 superstar in Moses Moody, but two others have only just recently begun to emerge.

Davonte Davis from Jacksonville and Jaylin Williams out of Fort Smith Northside each played a key role in significant minutes during the Razorbacks’ 30-point blowout of Georgia on Saturday.

They made an impact in areas that don’t show up in the box score, but also had the stats to back up their stellar performances. Davis had 20 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals, while Williams grabbed a team-high 9 rebounds to go along with 2 assists, a steal and a blocked shot.

“Both those guys have been great,” head coach Eric Musselman said. “Love how they’ve worked. I think their progression has been really good from a confidence standpoint.”

Making his second start in three games, Davis played a career-high 36 minutes. Coming off the bench after making his first start in the previous game, Williams matched his career high by playing 20 minutes.

It was not an anomaly, though. Despite being eighth and ninth on the team in minutes, both freshmen have seen an uptick in playing time in recent games.

Davis averaged just 10.7 minutes in six non-conference games, but has averaged 18.5 minutes in the Razorbacks’ first four conference games. Through the SEC opener at Auburn, Williams had very similar numbers, playing just 10.4 minutes per game. In the last three games, his minutes have increased to 17.0 per game.