Arkansas bounces Ole Miss from SEC Tournament

Published 11:25 pm Friday, March 10, 2017

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Manuale Watkins drove for a layup with 1:28 left to put Arkansas ahead, and the Razorbacks held off Ole Miss 73-72 on Friday night in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

Third-seeded Arkansas (24-8) has won seven of eight and will play Vanderbilt, a 72-62 overtime winner over Florida, in Saturday’s semifinals.

Watkins’ layup made it 71-70, and Daryl Macon hit two free throws with 23.8 seconds left to pad Arkansas’ lead. The Razorbacks needed every point as the Rebels took and missed a flurry of shots in the final 10 seconds before Justas Furmanavicius’ layup just before the buzzer.

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Officials reviewed the play before ruling the game over.

No. 6 seed Ole Miss (20-13) snapped a two-game winning streak. It is likely headed to the NIT for the sixth time in 11 seasons.

Macon finished with 17 points, including 9 of 10 at the free throw line. Jaylen Barford and Dusty Hannahs each added 13.

Terence Davis led Ole Miss with 26 points.

This was the first time these teams have played in the SEC Tournament, and they turned in a doozy after Arkansas routed Ole Miss 98-80 on Feb. 18.

Ole Miss, fresh off beating hapless Missouri in its tournament opener, jumped out to a 17-8 lead on a 3-pointer by Davis. After that, neither team led by more than six in a game featuring 13 ties, including 40-40 at halftime, along with 12 lead changes.

Breein Tyree gave Ole Miss its last lead at 70-69 with a 3-pointer with 1:47 to go. The Rebels didn’t score again until a layup that was too little and too late.

With Moses Kingsley helping harass Sebastian Saiz, the Ole Miss senior who was the SEC’s only player to average a double-double this season, into just nine points and 17 rebounds.

Deandre Burnett added 16 points, and Tyree had 13 for Ole Miss.