Ole Miss basketball saw what had been a positive start drown under a torrent of turnovers Saturday at Bud Walton Arena.
The Rebels gave it away a season-high 17 times on their way to a 69-57 loss to Arkansas (13-6, 2-5 SEC) as Ole Miss (9-10, 1-6) couldn’t retain the momentum it generated from its first SEC win Tuesday.
Ole Miss doesn’t respond to big Arkansas punch
One of the things Kermit Davis liked most about his team’s victory over South Carolina was that it rebounded well when South Carolina began the second half with its best spurt of the game.
Arkansas did the same on Saturday. This time, the Rebels never truly steadied themselves until it was too late.
The Razorbacks made seven of their first 13 field-goal attempts in the second half, opening up a 49-36 lead as they outscored the Rebels 17-7 in the first 8:03.
The main issue for Davis’ team wasn’t Arkansas’ hot shooting, though. Most of the pain was self-inflicted. Ole Miss turned it over seven times in the first eight minutes of the half. By the time the Rebels attempted their second field goal of the half, they’d already given it away four times.
The situation was made worse by an apparent injury to Rebels leading scorer Matthew Murrell, who had his right leg stepped on as he planted for a jump and needed to be helped off the floor. He stayed on the bench but didn’t return to the game.
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Rebels can’t translate positive start into halftime advantage
For roughly 10 minutes, Ole Miss played something pretty close to textbook road basketball.
It kept the crowd out of the game as Arkansas failed to snowball momentum in the way it so often does when playing at home. The Rebels generated some energy plays of their own, too, with five first-half dunks, including a highlight-reel slam by Myles Burns.
A Murrell free throw gave Ole Miss a five-point lead 6:23 into the game, but the Rebels never built on it. A highly efficient start to the first half petered out as the Rebels made only four field goals in the final 10 minutes.
By the time the two teams headed into the halftime locker room, Arkansas had undone the Rebels’ good work and held a 32-29 lead that only grew larger.
Up next
Ole Miss will continue SEC play at home against Missouri on Tuesday (6 p.m., SEC Network).
David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.