Field Level Media
Jan 20, 2018
Jaylen Barford scored 23 points and Daryl Macon added 20 as Arkansas jumped to a big first-half lead and then held on for a 97-93 victory over Ole Miss in a Southeastern Conference game at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. on Saturday.
Barford came up big in the second half, scoring 16 of his points as Arkansas needed to fight off the Rebels, who scored 55 in the final 20 minutes and cut the lead from double-digits down to two late.
That came when Terence Davis' 3-pointer made it 95-93 with 12 seconds remaining before Macon sank two free throws five seconds later.
Macon helped Arkansas (13-6, 3-4 SEC) to a 50-38 halftime advantage, as the Razorbacks made eight of 13 3-point shots. Arkansas posted 24 of its 50 first-half points thanks to those 3-pointers.
Macon made three of them himself while scoring 13 of his points in those first 20 minutes.
The good 3-point shooting also helped the Razorbacks inside, making it harder for Ole Miss (10-9, 3-4) to get outside and defend them, so Arkansas also came up with a number of easy baskets down low.
Arkansas had struggled recently, losing four of five before Saturday's game. But the Razorbacks used that good first half to start well.
Davis led Ole Miss with 30 points.
The game was close in the first several minutes, but a 10-point Arkansas run gave the Razorbacks a 35-21 lead with just under eight minutes left.
Arkansas later went on an 11-2 run, finished off by a C.J. Jones 3-pointer in the final two minutes which gave it a 50-34 lead at that point.
Ole Miss now has dropped three of its last four games.
The Rebels were hoping to bounce back in this game after a surprising -- and tough -- 71-69 loss to Texas A&M where the Aggies scored a late basket for their first conference win this season. Instead, Ole Miss fell behind early in this one and couldn't dig out of its early hole.
--Field Level Media