No. 23 Mississippi knocks off Arkansas 73-66 for first win in Fayetteville since 2015

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Malik Dia scored 21 points to lead No. 23 Mississippi to a 73-66 win over Arkansas on Wednesday night, the Rebels’ first win in Fayetteville since 2015.

Sean Pedulla scored 16 and Dre Davis 10. Pedulla and Dia made back-to-back buckets with less than nine minutes left to build Ole Miss’ lead to double digits after Arkansas (11-4, 0-2 Southeastern Conference) had cut it to six.

Adou Thiero led the Razorbacks with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting. The rest of the Arkansas team shot just 32%.

Dia, Pedulla and Davis scored 14 straight points for the Rebels (13-2, 2-0) over a five-minute stretch midway through the second, outscoring the Hogs over that span by four to keep the lead at double digits.

The Razorbacks, who fell out of the Top 25 last week after a loss at Tennessee, have started 0-2 in league play for the second straight season.

Takeaways

Arkansas’ NCAA Tournament hole may be large by the end of the week as ninth-ranked Florida visits Bud Walton Arena on Saturday.

The Rebels are 2-0 in the SEC for the first time since 2019, which is also the last time the Rebels made the NCAA Tournament. They look the part of returning in 2025.

Key moment

Ole Miss’ 17-7 run over the first 5:37 of the second half was precisely what the Rebels needed to get out of Arkansas with a win.

Key stat

Shooting doomed the Razorbacks. Arkansas shot just 22% from 3-point range to Ole Miss’ 39% and the Razorbacks’ leading scorer on the season, Boogie Fland, went just 5 of 20 from the floor for 14 points.

Up next

Ole Miss hosts LSU on Saturday.

Arkansas hosts No. 8 Florida on Saturday.

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