JD Notae, the Southeastern Conference’s leading scorer, pumped in a game-high 25 points as Arkansas earned its fifth straight victory, defeating Ole Miss 64-55 on Wednesday night in Oxford, Miss.
Averaging 18.6 points per game, Notae had a hot-shooting first half for the Razorbacks (15-5, 5-3) as they led by seven over Ole Miss (10-10, 2-6), which was coming off a 70-54 rout of Florida in a rescheduled game Monday.
The Rebels trimmed the deficit to as little as three on Tye Fagan’s free throws at 11:51, but Jaylen Williams sank a trey and a layup for an overwhelming 53-40 lead for the visitors at 4:56.
Notae wound up 10 of 23 from the field but made 4 of 10 from distance. He added five assists and three rebounds.
Williams registered 18 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Trey Wade scored 12 points on 5-for-5 shooting.
After starting 0-3 in the SEC, the Razorbacks won for the fifth straight time by making 48 percent (24 of 50) of its shots and limiting the home side to 34.5 percent (19 of 55).
Arkansas claimed its fourth straight win over Ole Miss and moved its all-time advantage to 49-33 in the series.
Matthew Murrell totaled 14 points and added six rebounds for the Rebels, who lost for the eighth time in the past nine meetings against Arkansas since 2017.
Fagan, Daeshun Ruffin and Nysier Brooks (six rebounds) each posted 10 points as Ole Miss lost for the seventh time in nine games.
In the schools’ only regular-season meeting, Arkansas led 11-4 six minutes in as Ole Miss struggled offensively, missing on 11 of its first 13 attempts from the field.
But the Rebels turned up the defensive pressure with their 1-3-1 zone, which gave Arkansas fits, and Brooks sank a 20-footer for his team’s first and last lead — 14-13 — at 7:14.
Notae ended the half emphatically, taking a couple of steps past the midcourt logo and heaving in a 3-pointer for a 30-23 Arkansas lead.
Notae netted 14 points and Brooks recorded 10 points and five rebounds for Ole Miss in the first half.
–Field Level Media
