Hot-shooting Arkansas sends Ole Miss to second straight loss

Published 5:15 pm Saturday, January 20, 2018

For the first time in a long time, Terence Davis found the hot hand. But Arkansas was en fuego.

Davis broke out for a season-high 30 points, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Arkansas’ torrid shooting Saturday as the Razorbacks handed Ole Miss its second straight loss with a 97-93 win at Bud Walton Arena.

Ole Miss (10-9, 3-4 SEC) trailed by as many as 16 but fought back to get within one possession a couple of times late, the last on Davis’ 3-pointer to make it 95-93 with nine seconds left. That’s as close as the Rebels got as Arkansas (13-6, 3-4) made nine of its last 10 free throws to hold on for just its third win in the teams’ last eight meetings at Bud Walton Arena.

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Davis, who came in averaging just 7.1 points in SEC play and eclipsed the 20-point mark for the first time since Dec. 22, knocked down seven of his first nine shots and finished 10 of 15 from the field and 5 of 8 from 3-point range to lead four Rebels in double figures. Breein Tyree had 16 points and five assists while Deandre Burnett and Bruce Stevens each finished with 15 points as Ole Miss shot 48 percent from the field and made half of its shots in the second half.

But the Razorbacks started hot and didn’t cool off much against Ole Miss, which fell to 0-5 in true road games. Arkansas shot 55 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range (11 of 22) with eight of its makes from deep coming in the first half as the Razorbacks built a 50-38 lead at the break — the second-most points allowed by Ole Miss in a half this season.

The Razorbacks also shot 80 percent (28 of 35) from the free-throw line on the way to their 10th 90-point game this season, by far the most in the SEC. Jaylen Barford led Arkansas with 23 points — 16 of those coming in the second half — while Daryl Macon went 11 of 12 from the free-throw line as part of his 20 points off the bench.

Daniel Gafford added 15 points and nine rebounds for the Razorbacks. Darious Hall and CJ Jones each had 11 points.

Ole Miss will return to The Pavilion on Tuesday to take on Alabama. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m.