OXFORD, Miss. — Arkansas did not snap its winless road streak Wednesday night.
Nick Williams scored 18 points and totaled eight rebounds, and Murphy Holloway and Reginald Buckner combined for 27 points and 25 rebounds in leading Mississippi to a 71-63 victory over Arkansas in SEC play. Marvell Waithe scored 15 points to lead the Razorbacks (12-4, 1-1 SEC).
“We showed our youth tonight,” Arkansas coach Mike Anderson said. “We had our opportunities and just didn’t play as well as we’ve been playing.”
The loss snapped the Hogs’ seven-game winning streak, the longest since the 2008-09 campaign, and put them 0-4 away from Fayetteville this season.
The Razorbacks came off a 98-88 home victory over Mississippi State, then ranked 16th in the coaches poll, Saturday and was looking for another big win over the Rebels (11-5, 1-1) to possibly earn some votes for a top-25 poll. But Ole Miss controlled the class Wednesday, outrebounding Arkansas 48-26 and scoring 17 second-chance points on 18 offensive rebounds in the process.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“Every time we got in position they got an offensive rebound or foul,” Anderson said.
Arkansas managed to tighten up the game on B.J. Young’s fast-break dunk with 4:16 left, pulling within 59-54 after trailing by as many as 13 points. Ole Miss then hit back-to-back buckets to go up 63-54 and answered every Arkansas basket from there to win.
The first half was more of a see-saw battle. The game saw eight lead changes and three ties in the period, while the Hogs scored 12 points off 11 turnovers. The Rebels closed the half on an 8-2 run to go into the locker room with a 37-29 advantage.
Waithe scored Arkansas’ first five points of the second half to draw the Hogs within 39-34, but a 5-minute scoring drought ensued and the Rebels took advantage to go up 47-34.
Young scored 14 points, Julysses Nobles 12 and Rickey Scott 10 for Arkansas. Waithe also had three steals, and Scott pulled down a team-high five rebounds.
Next for Arkansas is an 8 p.m. Saturday game against LSU in Fayetteville.