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The Little Rock suburb of Jacksonville was on center stage Tuesday night.

A pair of Titans - Davonte Davis (18 points) and Tyree Appleby (16 points) - led their respective teams in scoring with as No. 24 Arkansas took down Florida 75-64 in a big SEC showdown inside Bud Walton Arena.

It wasn’t the first time the two shared a court together, even though the Gators’ Appleby graduated three years earlier. In fact, the Razorbacks’ Davis described their relationship as “very close” and said they routinely attended open gyms together.

They also faced off when Davis was at Jacksonville Lighthouse, a Class 2A program in the town, as a freshman and Appleby was a senior at Jacksonville High.

“Just knowing we’re from the same town and knowing we’re competing out there — right before the game started, we told each other to just play basketball,” Davis said. “We knew everybody was watching and I feel like we put on for the city, for sure.”

Appleby looked like he’d be the hero Tuesday night when he knocked down back-to-back shots late in the second half to give Florida its first lead of the game.

Instead, about a minute later, Moses Moody came up with a loose ball and kicked it ahead to Davis, who took it the distance for a tough fast break layup between two Gators, including Appleby.

“You just kind of hold your breath when Devo’s got the ball,” head coach Eric Musselman said. “He just kind of figures out a way to slither to the rim and get by people and it’s not like I’m telling him to hold up. I don’t know what he’s going to do in there but he’s gonna do something.”

While he shot 6 of 14 for the game, Appleby was just 1 of 7 from beyond the arc and had seven turnovers to only two assists in his 37 minutes of action.

Davis had a more complete stat line. He went 7 of 14 from the floor and a perfect 4 of 4 from the free throw line, plus had five rebounds and three assists to only two turnovers in 36 minutes. That doesn’t even fully illustrate his impact on the game, though, as Davis continued to come up with loose balls and play great defense.

“I’ve never seen a kind of player like him,” teammate Justin Smith said. “I mean, he’s just always around the ball. He kind of just makes things happen.”

Those intangibles are what got Davis on the floor originally this season, but he has also developed into a solid offensive player who consistently gets to the basket when he decides to drive the lane.

During the Razorbacks’ seven-game SEC winning streak and including the loss at Oklahoma State, he’s averaging 10.3 points on 50 percent shooting in addition to 4.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.1 steals.

“You’ve just got to give him the ball and say, ‘Go make a play,’ sometimes,” Smith said. “He’s definitely bailed us out time and time again this season and right now he’s playing his best basketball.”

Davis and Arkansas will try to make it eight straight conference wins when they travel to Texas A&M for a 7:30 p.m. CT tip Saturday. The game will be televised on the SEC Network.