All Hogs

REACTION: Dia's Big Game Sinks Razorbacks' First Half Hopes

Hogs start hot but couldn't handle Ole Miss' hot shooting night, season-best performance from transfer big man
Jacob Davis|
Ole Miss Rebels forward Malik Dia (0) dunks the ball as Arkansas Razorbacks forward Trevon Brazile (4) defends during the first half at Bud Walton Arena.
Ole Miss Rebels forward Malik Dia (0) dunks the ball as Arkansas Razorbacks forward Trevon Brazile (4) defends during the first half at Bud Walton Arena. | Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

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Arkansas Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas Razorbacks attempt to avoid its second consecutive 0-2 start in SEC play fell short with a 73-66 loss to Ole Miss Wednesday night inside Bud Walton Arena.

After a promising start that included a 10-1 Arkansas lead at the first media timeout, the Razorbacks couldn't recapture that same momentum again. Multiple scoring spurts from the Rebels kept the Hogs at bay on a bad 37% shooting night on its homecourt.

Davis Shines Early

After missing Arkansas' previous game against No. 1 Tennessee Saturday afternoon, Davis returned with a spark scoring 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from three in the first half. Considered as the No. 1 transfer by most recruiting services, the Florida Atlantic transfer gave his team an early lift.

The second half wasn't quite as kind to him going 0-of-3 including two three point attempts and four fouls to finish with 13 points. Davis was in desperate need of an impact game which was one of the major reasons Coach John Calipari brought him in during the offseason.

Going Cold

Story of the night for Arkansas was going stone cold everywhere on the field. Basketball has always been a game of runs but dry spell runs of three minutes or more is something to avoid and the Razorbacks couldn't do against the Rebels.

During the first half, Arkansas went through two stretches without a single made field goal going 6:43 of game time going 0-of-11 from the field. The Razorbacks 2-of-9 stretch in the final six minutes before intermission allowed Ole Miss to tie the game at 33.

Down ten with 14 minutes to go, Arkansas faced its largest deficit at home this season down 50-40 due to 0-of-8 stretch from the floor which lasted over five minutes. Adou Thiero's and-one layup with 12 minutes to go gave Arkansas enough life to come alive out of its slump.

Ole Miss nearly squandered its lead due to three straight possessions with a missed three. When Malik Dia hit his second three of the night, it was the dagger needed to fully put away Arkansas for good.

Big Night From Dia

Speaking of Dia, the first year transfer from Belmont had his best game as a Rebel with 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 from three. The 6-foot-9 big man scored in double digits for the third time this season which have all come away from home.

Going into the night, Dia was shooting 41% from the field and just over 23% from deep. His eight boards were the most since pulling down the same amount against Oral Roberts in November.

HOGS FEED:

• Razorbacks searching for SEC footing in loss to Ole Miss

• Razorbacks face short bench in post with big man questionable

• Unique offense giving coaches problems while scheming for Ole Miss

• Home blowout trends provide hope Hogs can rebound

• Arkansas portal nab has more INTs against Alabama than Hogs past two years

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Jacob Davis
JACOB DAVIS

Jacob Davis is a reporter for Arkansas Razorbacks on SI, with a decade of experience covering high school and transfer portal recruiting. He has previously worked at Rivals, Saturday Down South, SB Nation and hosted podcasts with Bleav Podcast Network where his show was a finalist for podcast of the year. Native of El Dorado, he currently resides in Central Arkansas with his wife and daughter.

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