Mississippi's late rally stuns Arkansas 68-66

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Chris Warren scored 20 of his 31
points in the second half, and Mississippi rallied from a late
nine-point deficit to edge Arkansas 68-66 Saturday.
The Razorbacks (14-17, 7-9 Southeastern Conference) appeared in
control with a 65-56 lead and Ole Miss struggling to score, but the
Rebels (21-9, 9-7) slowly chipped away, scoring seven straight
points to cut the deficit to two. Warren then made a 3-pointer with
53.2 seconds left -- after Ole Miss rebounded its own missed free
throw -- to give his team its first lead at 66-65.
The Rebels held on when Murphy Holloway blocked Julysses Nobles'
shot as the Arkansas guard drove into traffic in the final seconds.
Ole Miss wrapped up a first-round bye in the SEC tournament with
the win.
Rotnei Clarke scored 13 points for the Razorbacks, who led by as
many as 14 in the first half. They entered halftime with a 43-33
advantage.
Warren scored eight straight points to begin the second, cutting
the margin to two. Arkansas answered with seven straight points,
including a 3-pointer by Clarke that made it 50-41.
The Rebels still had another push left in them, and this time
the Razorbacks couldn't hold on, losing their fifth straight game
to end the regular season. Terrico White, who scored only five
points for Ole Miss, made a 3-pointer to make it 65-61, and Warren
eventually put the Rebels ahead to stay.
After Warren's shot, Clarke missed a 3-pointer and appeared to
come up with his own rebound, but he lost the ball. After a frantic
pileup on the floor, officials called a jump ball with 28.6 seconds
left. The possession arrow favored the Rebels.
After an Ole Miss free throw, Nobles was fouled with 20.2
seconds to play, but he made only 1-of-2 free throws. Warren
restored the two-point margin with a free throw of his own with
11.3 seconds left.
Arkansas called a timeout with 8.2 seconds to go, and Nobles
drove to the basket again only to be met by a crowd of Ole Miss
defenders. After the blocked shot bounced away, Mike Washington
grabbed the ball and tried one last desperation shot from the
baseline, but the Arkansas senior's shot was well off the mark.
The teams combined for 28 turnovers in the first half, giving
the ball away seemingly every way possible: offensive fouls, a
double dribble, traveling, a 5-second call while closely guarded --
even a couple palming violations.
Arkansas took a 28-16 lead on a dunk by Marshawn Powell after
Courtney Fortson alertly dropped the ball off for him on a fast
break.