No. 15 Arkansas grabs early lead, holds off Ole Miss down the stretch

Field Level Media|published: Wed 7th January, 23:37 2026

Jan 3, 2026; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks head coach John Calipari during the first half against the Tennessee Volunteers at Bud Walton Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Darius Acuff Jr. scored 26 points and handed out nine assists as No. 15 Arkansas took the lead less than six minutes into the game and never looked back, holding off Ole Miss 94-87 on Wednesday night in Oxford, Miss.

Trevon Brazile added 18 points, Meleek Thomas and Billy Richmond III had 13 each, and Karter Knox scored 10 for the Razorbacks (12-3, 2-0 Southeastern Conference).

Malik Dia and Ilias Kamardine scored 16 points each, AJ Storr added 12, Eduardo Klafke put in 11 and Patton Pinkins added 10 to lead the Rebels (8-7, 0-2)

Arkansas had advantages in points off turnovers (17-12), second-chance points (14-6) and points in the paint (34-28).

After Arkansas took a 42-32 lead into the half, Ole Miss' James Scott made consecutive dunks to start the second-half scoring and pull the Rebels within 42-36. Arkansas increased the lead back to 10 points twice before Dia's three-point play trimmed the lead to 52-47 with 15:04 left.

Acuff scored seven points as the Razorbacks responded to open a 67-55 lead midway through the half. Dia answered with a layup and Ole Miss got within 10 points a second time before Arkansas expanded the lead to 77-61 with less than eight minutes left.

Klafke scored nine points to help the Rebels get within 82-72, but Brazile answered with a 3-pointer. Ole Miss got within 10 again, but Brazile made another 3-pointer.

The Rebels got within six points on Klafke's jumper with 3:06 left. Acuff made one free throw before Ole Miss got within four points twice, the second with 1:01 left. But Acuff made a jumper and Brazile added a free throw to complete the scoring.

Richmond made consecutive field goals and Thomas added a 3-pointer during an 11-0 run that gave the Razorbacks a 15-6 lead. Kezza Giffa made a 3-pointer to end the run and the Rebels crept within 18-14.

Richmond made a 3-pointer and Thomas added three points as Arkansas rebuilt the lead to 28-18 before Kamardine made a 3-pointer and a layup to get Ole Miss within five points with 6:21 to go in the first half.

The Rebels got within two points on two occasions before Brazile made consecutive 3-pointers to cap an 8-0 run that gave the Razorbacks a 42-32 halftime lead.

--Field Level Media

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