Rebels reversing fortunes

BOB HOLT
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- Ole Miss kept the SEC West standings looking upside down as the No. 20-ranked Rebels beat Arkansas 53-48 Wednesday night in Walton Arena.
Ole Miss was picked to finish sixth in the West, but the Rebels (14-1, 2-0) are atop the division. Arkansas (9-5, 0-2) was picked to win the West, but the Razorbacks find themselves in last place.
A three-point basket by Arkansas junior guard Brandon Dean pulled the Razorbacks within 51-48 with 8.6 seconds left.
Ole Miss sophomore guard David Sanders then hit two free throws to give the Rebels a five-point cushion and clinch the victory.
The Rebels have beaten Arkansas in seven of the teams' last nine meetings, including three in Walton Arena.
Sophomore forward Alonzo Lane led Arkansas with a season-high 17 points, but he didn't play the final 2:18 after he suffered an ankle injury.
Dean and junior guard Jannero Pargo added nine points each for the Razorbacks.
Sanders led the Rebels with 12 points. Senior forward Rahim Lockhart and freshman Aaron Harper added 11 points each.
Ole Miss senior guard Jason Holmes hit a three-pointer to give the Rebels a 45-42 lead with 4:17 left.
Pargo was then called for charging into Sanders.
Jason Flanigan, a senior guard from Little Rock Parkview, then hit 1 of 2 free throws to put the Rebels ahead 46-42 at the 3:57 mark.
After Pargo missed a three-pointer and Flanigan got the rebound, Sanders scored on a drive to push Ole Miss' lead to 48-42.
Arkansas junior forward Dionisio Gomez missed two free throws with 1:20 left, but he rebounded the second. He then went back to the line and missed two more free throws, but the ball went out of bounds off an Ole Miss player.
The Razorbacks couldn't score on that possession, either. They then got the ball back on a steal with 58 seconds left, but a charging call against Gomez nullified a layup by Blake Eddins that would have made it a four-point game.
Ole Miss guard Jason Harrison, a junior from Little Rock Parkview, hit 1 of 2 free throws with 48 seconds left to push the Rebels lead to 49-42.
A three-point basket by Dean pulled the Razorbacks within 49-45 with 38.6 seconds left. It was Arkansas' first points since the 5:21 mark, when Pargo's three-pointer tied it 42-42.
The Rebels outscored Arkansas 11-0 over a 3:36 span to take a 38-35 lead with 9:35 to play.
Sanders scored two rebound baskets in the run, Holmes hit a three-pointer, Harper hit a 5-foot jumper with an assist from Harrison, and Lockhart scored on a rebound.
Pargo hit two free throws to tie it 38-38 at the 7:42 mark.
Arkansas outscored Ole Miss 7-1 over a 2:10 span, including two baskets by Lane, to take a 35-27 lead with 13:49 left.
Ole Miss was 4 of 24 from the field the first 18 minutes of the game, but the Razorbacks couldn't apply a knockout blow.
Back-to-back three-point baskets by Harper in 28 seconds pulled the Rebels within 24-20 with 37 seconds left in the first half.
Ole Miss had the final possession of the half after Harrison drew a charge by Pargo, but the Rebels missed two shots and the Razorbacks held a four-point halftime lead.
Arkansas jumped to a 12-4 lead the game's first eight minutes as the Razorbacks got three-point plays by Lane and Dean.
The Rebels cut Arkansas' lead to 14-9 on two free throws by Harrison with 8:51 left in the half.
Arkansas then outscored Ole Miss 10-3 over 4:21, including a three-point basket by Eddins and four points by Lane, to move ahead 24-12 with 4:05 left.
At that point, it looked like the Razorbacks might be able to open a commanding lead as the Rebels struggled to score.
But Arkansas hit just 9 of 26 from the field (34.6) percent in the first half and had eight turnovers in the first half while Ole Miss hit 3 of its last 5 attempts of the half to finish 7 of 29 (24.1 percent) while having six turnovers.

This article was published on Thursday, January 11, 2001

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