Arkansas To play for SEC Championship; outlasts Ole Miss in OT

#17 Arkansas will play for the SEC Tournament Championship, its first trip to the final since 2017, after a hard-fought 93-90 overtime win over Ole Miss in the SEC semifinal Saturday afternoon. The third-seeded Razorbacks will face #22 and fourth-seeded Vanderbilt for the title on Sunday at Noon on ESPN.Meleek Thomas, who played all 45 minutes, scored 29 points with five assists and five rebounds to lead the Razorbacks while Darius Acuff Jr. finished with 24 points and seven assists. Also, Arkansas got double-doubles from Malique Ewin (14 pts and 13 rebs) and Trevon Brazile (16 pts and 10 rebs) to advance. Ewin recorded his 11th career double-double – second as a Razorback- while Brazile had his seventh of the season, 16th of his career, second in as many games and third in the SEC Tournament.

Arkansas led for 33:48, compared to 5:23 for Ole Miss, but the game featured 11 ties and 13 lead changes.

The Razorbacks looked to have the game under control, leading by seven (78-71) with 2:38 left to play in regulation. James Scott hit a free throw, Travis Pery sank a 3-pointer and Ilias Kamardine made two free throws to cut the Rebels’ deficit to one (78-77) with seven seconds left. Arkansas had a chance to seal the win, but Thomas only sent 1-of-2 at the free throw line – the team’s only miss in the second half – with five seconds left to put the Hogs up two. AJ Storr forced OT by going coast-to-coast and finishing with a layup to tie the game.

In overtime, Arkansas controlled the tip and went up four after a Ewin dunk and two free throws. After an Ole Miss basket, the Razorbacks went up six on a Thomas driving layup and a Brazile fastbreak layup. The Rebels answered with a basket and a 3-pointer to get to within one (87-86). Once again, Arkansas had a chance to seal the game at the line, but only went 1-of-4 over two trips to lead 92-90. Storr missed a 3-pointer with three seconds left and Brazile grabbed the rebound. Ole Miss fouled Brazile and he made 1-of-2 at the line with one second left. The Rebels’ last season-heave was wide right to put Arkansas in the championship game Sunday.

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

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