Ole Miss shoots past Arkansas

By

Posted 7:59AM on Sunday, February 10, 2002

OXFORD, MISSISSIPPI - Aaron Harper scored a career-best 26 points, including 14 in a first-half surge Saturday, as Mississippi continued its recent dominance of Arkansas, beating the Razorbacks 79-67. Ole Miss (18-6, 7-4 Southeastern Conference) has won 10 of the past 12 contests with Arkansas (12-10, 4-6), including a regular season sweep this season. The Rebels defeated Arkansas 70-64 in Fayetteville on Jan. 19. Harper was 9-of-14 from the field, including 5-of-9 from three-point range, to lead the Rebels, who remained second in the SEC Western Division behind Alabama. David Sanders added 14 points, Justin Reed had 13 and Jason Harrison had 11 for the Rebels. Harper and Reed grabbed a game-high eight rebounds each. Jannero Pargo led Arkansas with 19 points and freshman J.J. Sullinger added 16 points and a team-high five rebounds. Brandon Dean added 14 points for the Razorbacks, who have lost six of their last eight outings. Harper drilled four three-point shots in a 4-minute stretch as Ole Miss wiped out a 15-14 Arkansas lead with a 17-4 surge. Harper's final three-pointer gave the Rebels a 31-19 lead with 5:38 left in the first half. Ole Miss led 44-26 at halftime, as Sanders hit a three-point shot at the buzzer. The Rebels were 7-of-16 from three-point range in the half and were 10-of-10 from the free throw line. Arkansas, plagued by eight turnovers that led to 14 Ole Miss points, got nine points from Pargo. Arkansas opened the second half with a 14-2 run, cutting the margin to 46-40 with 15:50 left. The Razorbacks forced five Ole Miss turnovers and got a pair of three-point shots from Pargo. Arkansas hit 5-of-6 shots in the surge, which included a pair of assists by Sullinger. The Rebels answered with seven consecutive points by Reed, including a three-point play in the post, to rebuild the lead to 53-40 with 12:11 left. Arkansas pulled within nine points twice, the final time with 9:28 left on a jumper by Dean. Ole Miss finished 28-of-34 from the free throw line to prevent Arkansas from pulling any closer. The Razorbacks managed only 8-of-15 from the line, including a pair of key misses on the front end of bonus situations midway through the second half. The Rebels, 1-4 in SEC road games, visit Auburn on Wednesday, while Arkansas visits Tennessee.