Like it is

Razorbacks need to look inside for answers

Arkansas forward Moses Kingsley (33) works against Mississippi forward Sebastian Saiz (11) during an NCAA college basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, in Oxford, Miss. (Bruce Newman /The Oxford Eagle via AP)

It was a game of runs: Arkansas had one and Ole Miss several.

Arkansas had to be feeling at least OK with 7:52 to play in the first half. Chances of a rare road victory were looking good, and it seemed possible the Hogs could give the Rebels a third ding in their new digs, The Pavilion.

The Hogs led 26-17, and they were 9 of 17 from the floor; Stefan Moody, Ole Miss' scoring leader at 23.3 points per game, was scoreless.

Moody finished the first half with one point -- a made free throw and 0 of 8 from the field -- and at halftime it was 37-35 Arkansas.

But that last 7:52 of the opening half could have become a disaster if not for junior center Moses Kingsley.

Not one Razorback other than Kingsley had a field goal in that span -- and very few had any the rest of the way -- as the Rebels were controlling the boards and then the tempo.

From that point until Ole Miss was sitting on a 65-54 lead with 4:30 to play, the Razorbacks couldn't have been colder if they had been standing in a giant vat of ice cubes.

They made 8 of their 34 shots in that span.

The Rebels took a shortlived lead, 33-30, before Kingsley took over and scored five of the next seven points with Jabril Durham adding two free throws.

At the break, with Ole Miss holding a 26-14 rebounding lead (including 12 offensive boards), Kingsley had 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting and 6 rebounds. He attempted three shots in the second half.

It didn't help the Hogs that leading scoring Dusty Hannahs was on the bench much of the first half in foul trouble and would finish with four shot attempts.

The second half was basically awful for the Razorbacks, who are better than they are playing right now.

It's not as if the Rebels are challenging for the SEC lead -- that's Kentucky and LSU, the two most talented teams in the SEC -- or even for an NCAA Tournament bid.

The Rebels are a better-than-average team in a league that has somehow not managed to pull itself out of a slump that continues to plague the bottom half of the conference.

Most of what happened Saturday in Oxford, Miss., fell on the Hogs. They seem to have suddenly decided any open shot must be a good one, but there are reasons why some of the guys aren't guarded closely on the perimeter.

On a day when Moody hits 4 of his 17 shots and has seven turnovers, and you don't win, something isn't right.

On a day when Sebastian Saiz gets 11 points to outscore all but two of the Razorbacks, while wearing sunglasses, very fashionable ones to protect a detached retina, something isn't right.

On a day when you start out clearly the better team and end up easily beaten, something isn't right.

On a day when any team scores five field goals in a second half, it isn't going to win.

Everyone knows Mike Anderson's philosophy, like his mentor Nolan Richardson, is not to block out for rebounds. But you can't stand around and wait for the ball to come to you.

Ole Miss outrebounded Arkansas 47-29, and 18 of those were offensive boards that were converted into 15 points.

The Razorbacks attempted 20 three-pointers and made four.

Those are things that are impossible to overcome.

Some, no doubt, will put all the blame on Anderson, and he never ducks his responsibility as the head coach. This mostly comes down to a lack of execution on both ends of the court.

Arkansas is good enough to win games at Mississippi State and Ole Miss, but the players have to stop looking for jump shots and look inside more to Kingsley, and use its own intensity, especially on defense, to create more runs.

Sports on 02/14/2016