Ole Miss handed the Arkansas Razorbacks (10-9, 1-5 SEC) their fifth loss in six conference games with a dominant 77-51 win over the Hogs at The Pavilion on Wednesday in Oxford, Mississippi.
Head coach Eric Musselman's Arkansas squad desperately needed a win to keep hopes alive for an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament. Instead, the Hogs lost by 26, they were out-rebounded by 15 and they turned the ball over 14 times.
Arkansas shot just 33.3% from the field, 22.7% from three and 66.7% from the free throw line. The Hogs were short-handed as guard Tramon Mark (migraines) did not play and forward Trevon Brazile (knee) missed the entire second half.
Musselman played 13 different guys and Khalif Battle led all scorers with 11 points on 2-of-9 shooting from the field. Joseph Pinion scored 10 points to be the only other Hog in double-digits.
It couldn't have been much worse of a start for Arkansas, which saw nine players enter the game before the first media timeout. By the first stoppage at the 14:59 mark, the Razorbacks were down 12-4 and they had hit just two field goals by that point.
Arkansas' offense remained stagnant even with the total number of players seeing the court reaching 12 by the under-8 minute media break. The Hogs had 10 turnovers and just five made shots as they trailed by 14 at that point.
The Razorbacks turned to a four-guard lineup late in the first half and turned a 15-point deficit into a six-point deficit by the 2:58 mark. All of that momentum quickly faded, as the Ole Miss was 11 just 40 seconds later.
Arkansas didn't hit a field goal for the final 4:08 of the first half and it went into the locker room down 38-26 with 10 turnovers and eight made field goals. The Rebels scored 17 points off turnovers in the first 20 minutes of the game.
Forward Trevon Brazile was unavailable for the Hogs out of the break due to a knee injury, but it likely wouldn't have mattered much. Ole Miss began the half on a 10-3 run and it led by as many as 20 in the first seven minutes of the second half.
The Razorbacks saw Battle exit the game (he later returned) with a right leg injury at the 9:42 mark and he walked off the court with his team down 16. Ole Miss extended the lead back to 20 by the under-8 minute media timeout, and it was really just a matter of running the clock by that point.
After being awarded the start, Southern Mississippi transfer Denijay Harris saw some significant run late in the second half. Freshman Baye Fall also saw the court, while others such as Joseph Pinion and Jeremiah Davenport also got run with the team trailing 71-47 by the 4:08 mark.
Arkansas hit just one more field goal after that — a three from Pinion that made it a 26-point ballgame with just 27 seconds to play.
Up next, Arkansas will host a top-10 Kentucky team on Saturday at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville with ESPN's College GameDay in town. The game is set for a 5 p.m. CT tipoff on ESPN.
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