Arkansas ends Ole Miss’ improbable SEC tourney run with OT win

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Darius Acuff Jr. scored five of his 24 points in overtime, and No. 17 Arkansas held off Ole Miss 93-90 on Saturday to reach the SEC tournament championship game for the eighth time and first since winning the 2017 title.

The Razorbacks (25-8) will play No. 22 Vanderbilt, which routed No. 4 Florida earlier Saturday.

Acuff, the SEC’s scoring leader and league’s player and freshman of the year, also had seven assists. Meleek Thomas led Arkansas with 29 points, Trevon Brazile had 16 points and 10 rebounds, along with the final free throw and Malique Ewin added 14.

Ole Miss (15-20) ends its improbable run after the 15th-seeded Rebels became the second double-digit seed to win three games at this event, joining Auburn in 2015.

The Rebels, who held off a furious rally in stunning No. 15 Alabama on Friday night, forced overtime by outscoring the Razorbacks 8-1, with AJ Storr‘s layup tying it at 79 with 1.1 seconds left.

Ewin put Arkansas ahead to stay with a dunk 10 seconds into overtime. Ole Miss had a chance to take the lead with three seconds left, but Storr’s 3-point attempt clanked off the front rim.

Storr led Ole Miss with 24 points. Malik Dia added 16.

Up next

Ole Miss heads home with coach Chris Beard trying to build on a roster that had to replace four starters coming into this season.

Arkansas can give coach John Calipari his seventh SEC tournament title and first with the Razorbacks with a win Sunday.