OXFORD, Miss. — It was obvious from the start Ole Miss had a primary goal — stop Sonny Weems.

Weems didn’t get an open look in the first half or a field goal in the first 36: 03 of play because he was staring at an up-close and personal Eniel Polynice and others.

Andy Kennedy took no chances, going with a zone the final 10 minutes of the first half and using it liberally against the Razorbacks. Saying the Hogs struggled would be like saying the Tad Pad is a hard place for the Hogs to win.

Arkansas made four of its first 13 against the zone and Ole Miss looked like it might put some serious hurt on the Hogs, leading 35-23 with 4: 29 to play in the first half. But Patrick Beverley found the range, hitting a pair of threes, Charles Thomas got one to fall, and Gary Ervin went coast to coast with a rebound for a driving layup to cut it to 39-35 at the half.

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Beverley had 13 points and Darian Townes 10, and the Hogs hung around. They would have had a chance to be dangerous, but as too often happens, especially on the road, they couldn’t get shots to fall.

Ole Miss opened the second half in a man, but Beverley made the Rebels pay with a driving floater. After Townes made it 41-39, Kennedy went back to the zone. It wasn’t effective, and Kennedy went back to the man after two possessions and the Rebels pulled out to a 47-41 lead.

The Hogs missed four consecutive shots, scoring only on two Ervin free throws, and the Rebels were getting putbacks, a three and an uncontested layup. Before you could say Alabama it was 56-45 with 11: 58 to play and Weems had yet to score. He was 0 for 6 from the field as every shot he took was challenged.

Ole Miss was going in and out of a zone, but Kennedy had quietly made a change — putting Polynice on Beverley.

The Hogs attacked the zone with an alley-oop to Townes and then Weems was heard from when he drove the paint, drew a crowd and dished to Michael Washington for an easy two. Townes dropped in one of his hooks and it was 58-51 with 9: 22 to play.

Freshman of the Year candidate Chris Warren dropped in a long three for a 61-51 lead, and the Hogs missed on the other end after nearly turning it over twice.

Then the bottom started to fall out for the Razorbacks. They weren’t getting back on defense, couldn’t handle Ole Miss on offense and with 7: 37 to play it was 66-51.

It wasn’t a lack of effort for the Razorbacks, although the Rebels did play with more heart and enthusiasm on their senior night.

Arkansas played hard, but it simply does not have a pure shooter. Weems and Beverley are both capable, but are not consistent and usually have to come off a pick, which Ole Miss denied most of the night.

The Rebels also crashed the boards with more intensity than the Hogs, who other than Beverley have trouble with timing and reading the bounce.

Still, the Hogs got a layup from Beverley and a threepointer from Stefan Welsh. And when Ole Miss missed the front end of a 1-and-1 Townes got two down low to cut it to 68-60.

Ole Miss was pounding it inside and that got it two free throws. But with 3: 57 to play Weems hit his first field goal — a three-pointer — and it was 70-63. Welsh made it a two-possession game with a free throw.

Arkansas appeared to be in good shape on Mississippi’s next possession. David Huertas threw it over the backboard with one second on the shot clock, but after the Hogs missed, Huertas hit a three to make it 73-64.

Weems scored again and Beverley cut it to five with two free throws. Then Beverley got a steal and the Hogs missed — again.

With 59 seconds to play, Ervin turned it over and the road had taken its toll on the Hogs once again.

At that point, it was a final buzzer from being another disappointing road loss for the Razorbacks.