Arkansas 66, Mississippi 65

Posted 11:03PM on Saturday 5th February 2005 ( 20 years ago )

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) Some clutch free-throw shooting from Dontell Jefferson helped Arkansas end its long SEC drought away from home. Jefferson's free throw with 2.2 seconds left lifted Arkansas to a 66-65 win over Mississippi on Saturday, ending the Razorbacks' 13-game conference road losing streak. It was Arkansas' first SEC win away from Fayetteville since a victory at Vanderbilt in February 2003. ``We've been close in road games. To finally turn the corner, I'm excited about that for our players and program,'' Arkansas coach Stan Heath said. ``That will give us some momentum.'' Ole Miss erased an 11-point second-half deficit and tied it at 65 on Todd Abernethy's free throw with 16.6 seconds remaining. The Razorbacks went the length of the floor, and Jefferson was fouled trying to tip in Darian Townes' miss in the final seconds. ``I just wanted to crash the board when I saw Darian take the shot (and) they fouled me,'' Jefferson said. Ole Miss couldn't get a good look on its desperation attempt as time expired, giving the Razorbacks their first win in Oxford since 1996. ``They did what they had to do and forced us into things we didn't want to do,'' Ole Miss coach Rod Barnes said. Townes had 19 points for Arkansas (15-7, 3-6). Ron Brewer added 14 and Jonathon Modica added 13, including four in the final minute. Ole Miss led by three in the final minute, before Modica's two free throws pulled the Razorbacks to 64-63. After a Rebels turnover, Modica's baseline jumper rolled in and gave Arkansas a one-point lead with 38 seconds left. ``I was proud of the way we played in the stretch and put ourselves in position to win, but we didn't do enough things right at the end to finish it,'' Barnes said. Marvin Moore had 22 points off the bench to lead Ole Miss (12-11, 3-7), which was swept by Arkansas this season. Londrick Nolen added 11 points for the Rebels, who were just 2-of-16 from 3-point range. The teams combined for 51 fouls and 28 turnovers.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2005/2/141972