All Hogs

Live Blog: Arkansas vs. Ole Miss, SEC Tourney, Round 2

Hogs look to avenge another loss for shot at Auburn in quarters

Kent Smith

Arkansas Razorbacks guard D.J. Wagner (21) drives against Ole Miss Rebels forward Malik Dia (0) during the second half at Bud Walton Arena. Ole Miss won 73-66.
Arkansas Razorbacks guard D.J. Wagner (21) drives against Ole Miss Rebels forward Malik Dia (0) during the second half at Bud Walton Arena. Ole Miss won 73-66. / Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images
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NASHVILLE — Over the last three seasons Arkansas is winless against Chris Beard coached teams. That includes a pair of losses to him at Ole Miss and a carpet bombing of Eric Musselman's team in an exhibition game to open the Moody Center down in Austin.

If the Arkansas revenge tour is to continue, the Hogs will have to end another drought against an SEC coach. The Razorbacks gave head coach John Calipari his first win ever over Lamont Paris in a while nail biter against South Carolina in the opening round.

The Hogs lost to a then Top 25 Rebels team in Bud Walton back in early January, 73-66. Arkansas jumped out to an early nine-point lead, but couldn't keep the momentum going, falling behind by double digits in the second half before ultimately losing the second of what would become five consecutive SEC games.

The Storylines

• Just as Calipari gets things turned aroud, Texas Longhorns create drama
• SEC Tournament Starts with Snafu Before Tip for Razorbacks
• Hogs' Story Not Ready for Presses, Plenty of Chapters Need Writing
• Razorbacks Epitomize 'Survive and Advance' in Win Over South Carolina
• Arkansas Avenges South Carolina Loss With Better Start in SEC Tournament

Out of Respect

Tip-Off

Ole Miss (8) vs. Arkansas (9), tip approx. 12:03 p.m.
Winner will face Auburn (1) at noon Friday in third round.

1st Half

Zvonimir Ivisic is dressed out and looking like he is going to play. He suffered a thumb injury yesterday to his shooting hand that required it to be taped up. He definitely seems to be moving it will far less pain today.

Ivisic and Trevon Brazile start the game with misses from three and no one is guarding inside. Ivisic doesn't look up to the task for a physical battle and Ole Miss is torching the Hogs inside. Malik Dia adds a three for the Rebels and it's 9-0 before anyone can blink. Jonas Aidoo will come in to try to stop the bleeding.

Richmond and Aidoo team up with Trevon Brazile and the Hogs put together a stop and four quick points inside, but Dia is on fire. He was barely touching the three-point line so it's only a two, but he now as nine of Ole Miss' 11 points as he can't be stopped inside or out. He eventually has to cool off, but if the Razorbacks can't get more pressure on him, it won't matter as the lead will be too much.

14:00
The Hogs have picked up the intensity on defense and have completely shut down Ole Miss. There is no room to breathe. Meanwhile, Davis hits a lay-up high off the glass over a pair of Rebels and Aidoo hits a jumper from the left side to get the Hogs back in it 11-8.

13:00
A shot by Aidoo is goal-tended so it counts. Then Davis picks off a pass and sprints down the floor for a dunk while being fouled. He hits the free throw and the Hogs trail by one, 14-13. Big comeback for Arkansas. Then Davis comes back and knocks down a three from the top of the key and for the first time the Razorbacks lead 16-14.

12:00
Murray hits a floater late in the shot clock for Ole Miss and a steal by Brakefield that leads to an easy lay-up on the fast break give Ole Miss the lead again. Brakefield then drives again and it's now 20-16 Rebels as they've swung the momentum back their way. Brakefield is the Ole Miss version of Billy Richmond. He's their energy guy.

10:00
Coming out of a timeout Arkanas has made five of its last six shots and Ole Miss has made three of its last three as the offensive pace has gone back and forth. The trend of calling few fouls in the first half continues. There are three fouls between both teams. It's not becaues there aren't fouls happening. It's rough out there.

9:00
Arkansas gets called for a shooting foul. Meanwhile, Brazile came with backside help and blocked the shot, but he got a hand on it right as it scraped off the backboard. Dia hits the free throw and he's got 12 points now as Ole Miss stretches its lead to 25-17.

8:00
Richmond splits the defense to try to get the Hogs some momentun, cutting the lead to 29-21, but Dia goes right back down, attacking the inside and Arkansas has no answer for him. Dia is just torching the Hogs. Also, the pace is getting really fast and things seem a little too out of control for Arkansas. It looks like Beard has decided to run this seven-man rotation which is essentially down to six men out of the building. The Hogs look like they're already running out of gas. Murray pops a jumper over Brazile and it's 32-21 now as the Rebels look to put their foot on the Razorbacks throats and end this one early.

6:00
Balls are coming up short for Hogs. Legs look like they aren't quite there today. At least Arkansas is getting its patented scoring drought out of the way in the first half.

3:00

Richmond hits his second three of the season and that's the Hogs' first field goal in five minutes. He then attacks the basket on the next possession and a blowout is now 37-27 in the blink of an eye. Arkansas has been settling for jump shots, which got them way behind, but there is a little life in Arkansas now.

2:00
Ole Miss has Dia and Murray in double figures. They have combined for 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting, including 3-of-3 from three. Both have played only 14 minutes. Arkansas is lead by Davis with eight points.

Murrell picks off a Richmond pass, dishes it to Pedulla who lays it in and gets the foul and in less than 20 seconds the lead has ballooned to 42-27. Arkansas just can't build any momentum. This team really needs a long rest and mental reset. This clip from earlier pretty well demonstrates where the legs and brains are right now.

1:00
Knox hits a three from the right corner and Brazile comes up with a big steal and dunk and suddently the Hogs have a 7-0 run in roughly 30 seconds and what was a blowout is now in single digits with a few seconds left in the half. 42-34 with 26.7. Murray misses a three at the buzzer and the Rebels finished the half 1-of-8 as the Hogs set themselves up to have a chance in the second half.

1st Half Stats

Arkansas vs. Ole Miss, SEC Tourney, Round 2
Arkansas vs. Ole Miss, SEC Tourney, Round 2 / StatBroadcast.com

2nd Half

19:00
After a chaotic possession, Knox knocks down a three to make it 44-39.

17:00
The legs look a bit fresher, but the mental aspect looks tired. Free throws not falling and Knox runs right through a defender when he has a mismatch inside to draw his third foul. Play has been sloppy for Arkansas. Guys struggling to watch the ball in to their hands on passes and gather rebounds.

16:00
Aidoo drives in side and misses, but Brazile follows twice and he tips it in to make it 46-42. Then Aidoo takes a shot out of the air. Arkansas loses the ball on the other end, but Davis tracks it down, reverses course and goes to the rack for the dunk and it's 46-44.

15:00
Terrible news for Arkansas fans. Billy Richmond is hurt and they have to stop play to get him off the court. That means the Hogs will essentially be down to five players, and, more importantly, there is sudden concern for how this might affect the NCAA Tournament. He is getting hit hard with the massage gun and chugging Gatorade, so hopefully it's just a cramp.

14:00
Aidoo backs down Brakefield and hits the lay-up while getting fouled. He knocks down the free throw and it's now a 49-48 game. However, it should noted that Aidoo crashed to the floor with all of his weight on his tail bone. That might not bother him immediately, but he's going to stiffen up a lot if he sits down for a bit.

13:00
Wagner steps in to steal an Ole Miss pass and sprints the floor, hitting a Euro step on the way to the lay-up and he makes it while being fouled. He goes to the line and misses the free throw that would have tied the game. Hogs trail 51-50. However Brazile gets open in the right corner on the next possession and drains the three to give Arkansas its first lead since early in the first half.

11:00
Arkansas is on a 26-11 run. Most of those points have come off turnovers. The battle between Knox and Dia down low would be a double foul in any other conference. It looks like the infamous Hagler-Hearns fight down there. It's brutal.

10:00
Wagner threads a pass past three Ole Miss defenders to Aidoo down low who hits a short turnaround jumper to put Arkansas up 57-53. Now Knox knocks down a three followed immediately by a steal by Billy Richmond that looks like will result in an intentional foul as he was grabbed from behind without a play on the ball and still almost made the shot. It looked like a defensive back getting beat an intentionally committing pass interference to not give up the touchdown.
Richmond knocks down a free throw and it's 61-53 Hogs. Arkansas is on a 43-11 run.

9:00

Klafke forces up a fall away three and it goes in to end the drought for Ole Miss. It's 61-56 Hogs.

8:00
Aidoo gets down low and goes to work. He backs in Brakefield and drops a spinning flip shot to extend the lead to 63-56. Murrell hits a running corner three to cut it to 63-59 and the Rebels are heating up. Now there's a steal and Dia gets fouled on the lay-up attempt. He goes to the line looking for his first points of the second half. He hits both and it's now a two-point game. The Rebels respond with a trap at halfcourt and the Hogs have to take a timeout. Arkansas barely avoided a five-second call there. Ole MIss is feeling the momentum.

7:00
Richmond goes up hard for a rebound and doesn't see an Ole Miss player come up behind him and ends up getting his fourth foul just trying to snatch the ball. It should be noted that Ivisic hasn't been in all half, so with Richmond in foul trouble, the Hogs are basically at five guys for a bit. The resulting free throws tie it and then Knox dribbles the ball off his knee and out of bounds.

6:00
Dia backs in on Aidoo and gets a foul call that didn't appear to involve any contact. He hits one free throw to give Ole Miss the lead. However, Richmond checks right back in, leaves his man in front of the Arkansas bench and sprints to the hoop for a powerful dunk to immediately take the lead back, 65-64.

5:00
Dia steals away an ill-advised pass to the top of the key to Ivisic who checked in for the first time. He goes down and almost rips the goal down to put Ole Miss up 69-65 and the anti-Arkansas crowd is going nuts. Ivisic went right back out.

4:00
Barnes trips on his own feet going after a loose ball, but because his foot was near Aidoo's foot, he draws the foul and that will be it for Aidoo. Richmond comes in now and he is also a foul away from sitting down for good. Arkansas trails 70-66 after the free throws. Richmond hits 1-of-2 free throws to make it 73-69. The Hogs are 14-of-24. If they lose today, that will be a big reason why.

3:00
Brazile responds to a quick basket with a three to cut it to 75-72, but with Aidoo gone Ole Miss is constantly attacking the rim and answers right back. 77-72 as time is running out for Arkansas to scramble back into this.

2:00
Richmond knocks down a pair of free throws and it's now 77-76. Then Knox blocks a shot and forces a shot clock violation to give the Hogs a chance to take the lead. He then hits a pair of free throws and Arkansas takes the lead, 78-77.

1:00
Davis gets Pedulla in the corner and is able to tip the ball away when Pedulla tried to push off. He then stops his toes a fraction of an inch from the out of bounds line and calls the timeout. That gives Arkansas the ball with 50.5 up by one.
The Razorbacks are currently on a 6-0 run. Hogs, with no timeouts, take their time getting down and Wagner hits the floater with 29 seconds left to go up by three.
Ole Miss rushes back down and Davis catches the ball underneath. He hits the lay-up and Brazile, coming from behind fouls him. Davis hits the free throw and we're tied.
In a wild sequence that sees Nelly Davis go flying, Brazile gets fouled from behind and he will go to the line with 7.9. He misses both and Pedulla nails a three with 1.3 seconds left. It appeared to be over, but Richmond gets the ball to halfcourt and shoots a shot that almost banks home.

Arkansas falls on the last second shot, 83-80. That will not hurt them at all in NCAA seeding. If anything, it means not having to play in an 8-9 match-up.

Final Stats

Arkansas vs Ole Miss final stats, SEC Tournament, Second Round
Arkansas vs Ole Miss final stats, SEC Tournament, Second Round / StatBroadcast.com
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Kent Smith
KENT SMITH

Kent Smith has been in the world of media and film for nearly 30 years. From Nolan Richardson's final seasons, former Razorback quarterback Clint Stoerner trying to throw to anyone and anything in the blazing heat of Cowboys training camp in Wichita Falls, the first high school and college games after 9/11, to Troy Aikman's retirement and Alex Rodriguez's signing of his quarter billion dollar contract, Smith has been there to report on some of the region's biggest moments. 

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