The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
8-6, 0-3
Arkansas
9-6, 1-3
Rebels Fall To Arkansas, 86-78
1/17/2004 | Men's Basketball
Jan 17, 2004
By DOUGLAS PILS
AP Sports Writer
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Eric Ferguson scored 19 points and freshman Vincent Hunter had season-highs of 14 points and nine rebounds Saturday to help Arkansas avoid its first 0-4 start in the Southeastern Conference with a 86-78 win over Mississippi.
Arkansas (9-6, 1-3 SEC) snapped a seven-game losing streak to Mississippi, despite making just four field goals in the second half. The Razorbacks set a school record with 48 made free throws in 53 attempts. Arkansas was 35 of 38 from the line in the second half.
Mississippi (8-6, 0-3) is the only league team without a win in SEC play.
Aaron Harper led the Rebels with 22 points, while guard Justin Johnson had a season-high 20 points, 15 more than his average entering the game. Mississippi made 13 of 19 from the line.
Hunter kept the ball on Arkansas' end of the court by hustling for loose balls and he attacked the basket, earning seven trips to the free-throw line. He made 12 of 14 foul shots and the whole team shot better there than it had while starting SEC play 0-3.
Arkansas was a woeful 17 of 39 from the line for 43.6 percent in the last three losses. The Razorbacks, a 62.2 percent free-throw shooting team this season, made a season-high 90.6 percent.
The free throws broke a school record of 46 set against TCU in 1955 and the shots attempted are the most in SEC play and tied for third-best in school history.
The free throws helped five players reach double figures, including Jonathon Modica with 17, Ronnie Brewer with 16 and Kendrick Davis with 11. That trio made 26 of 29 from the line.
Mississippi used an 11-0 run in less than a minute to cut a 20-point deficit to 72-63 with 4:02 remaining. Harper made three 3-pointers and he had a dunk during the run, which was spurred by the Rebels' full-court press.
After trimming the lead to six three times, Justin Reed cut it to 83-78 with a 3-pointer with 27 seconds left, but the Rebels couldn't close the gap.
