Ole Miss Pulls Away from Arkansas, Goes 4-0 in SEC Play for First Time Since 1937

OXFORD, Miss. (WCBI/AP) – Point guard Jarvis Summers scored 14 points and dished out seven assists and Reginald Buckner and Murphy Holloway both posted double-doubles, as Ole Miss downed Arkansas 76-64 and improved to 4-0 in the SEC for the first time since 1937.

(Nelson Chenault, USA TODAY)
The Tad Pad experienced a power outage during the middle of the 1st half but it didn’t deter the Rebels as they pulled away late to beat Arkansas.

Ole Miss (15-2, 4-0) won despite a mediocre shooting performance and a 30-minute power outage that delayed the game late in the first half.

The Rebels didn’t make a 3-pointer in the first half, but hit six of them after halftime to slowly pull away. Jarvis Summers and Nick Williams both added 14 points to help extend the team’s winning streak to seven games.

Arkansas (11-6, 2-2) recovered from a 13-point deficit early in the second half to tie the game at 50 with 10:59 remaining. The Razorbacks were led by 16 points from Marshawn Powell. B.J. Young added 14 and Hunter Mickelson had 10.

The game was interrupted with 5:37 left in the first half — right in the middle of an Ole Miss fastbreak — when the lights went out at Tad Smith Coliseum due to a power outage that affected a large chunk of the campus. The teams returned to the locker rooms for most of the break.

Ole Miss led 24-21 when the lights went on and responded better to the extended layoff, pushing the advantage to 34-26 by halftime despite shooting just 13 of 38 (34.2 percent) and missing all eight 3-point attempts.

The Rebels pushed their lead to 41-28 with 17:40 remaining in the game on a 3-pointer by Williams, but then Arkansas started a methodical comeback. The Razorbacks went on a 22-9 run over a little less than seven minutes, tying the game at 50 on Rickey Scott’s basket with 10:59 left.

But Arkansas could never take the lead. Henderson and Williams hit back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the second half to push Ole Miss ahead 58-52 and the Razorbacks could never mount another serious challenge.

Ole Miss shot just 28 of 70 from the field (40 percent), but forced 18 Arkansas turnovers. Henderson is the SEC’s leading scorer, averaging more than 19 points per game, but he shot just 5 of 16 from the field.

Holloway made 7 of 13 shots from the field and added a game-high 11 rebounds. Reginald Buckner blocked four shots.

Ole Miss continued its dominance in the series with Arkansas. The Rebels have won 22 out of the past 30 against the Razorbacks, including nine of the last 10 and six in a row.