Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

3/5/2011 at 6:26pm

Why Arkansas Lost A nearly nine-minute stretch without a field goal doomed the Razorbacks (18-12, 7-9) after halftime. They trailed by just one at the break, but were routinely down double-digits thanks to their scoring drought. Ole Miss (19-12, 7-9) took advantage on the perimeter and tied a school record with 14 shots from behind the 3-point line. The Rebels shot 63 percent from long range and complemented the offensive efforts by altering Arkansas shots and stopping scores in the second half.

Player of the Game
Ole Miss’ Chris Warren started slow and struggled at times in his previous meeting with Arkansas. Not the case on Saturday as he finished with 24 points and nine assists for the Rebels against the Razorbacks.

Warren had 19 for the Rebels the last time the two teams met.

Wasted Effort
Great 3-point shooting was again not enough for the Razorbacks. They hit 10 of 18 shots from behind the 3-point line and lost.

Mississippi State withstood an 11-of-22 effort from Arkansas earlier in the week.

It’s not often a team hits 52 percent of its 3-pointers over a two-game stretch and comes up winless.

Rotnei Clarke led the Razorbacks with 26 points. He hit five of the team’s 3-point baskets.

No Adjustment
What did Arkansas learn from its Feb. 5 meeting with Ole Miss? Not much when it came to how to approach Rebels’ center Reginald Buckner.

Buckner was again a shot-blocking force, finishing with seven blocks as Ole Miss finished with 11 as a team. Arkansas had 12 shots blocked a month ago, including eight by Buckner.

Improvement?
This was supposed to be a year in which Arkansas proved it was taking a step forward in the SEC. Instead, Coach John Pelphrey’s team finished a lot like last year.

While the Razorbacks only lost two consecutive games to end the regular season compared to five in a row to end last year — they finished with an identical conference record to 2009-10. Arkansas hasn’t had a winning record in the SEC since Pelphrey’s first year in 2007-08.

0-For
Arkansas went winless against the state of Mississippi this year. Mississippi State and Ole Miss swept the Razorbacks.

No being thankful for Mississippi this year, eh?

Speaking Out
“[Ole Miss] had an amazing night from three and I thought we were there. We battled and came back and I am proud of those guys.”
—Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey

Up Next
Arkansas has clinched the No. 4 seed from the SEC West. They’ll play the East No. 5 at 7:30 on Thursday. Sunday’s Kentucky-Tennessee game will set the brackets from the East and determine the Razorbacks’ tournament opponent.

Tagged: Ole Miss Rebels, Southeastern Conference Tournament, Rotnei Clarke, John Pelphrey, Arkansas Razorbacks