In the Lane

Big guys tower over Ole Miss

Moses Kingsley of Arkansas dunks against Ole Miss in the second half Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017, during the game at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas post players Moses Kingsley and Trey Thompson capitalized on a height advantage over Ole Miss and neutralized Rebels center Sebastian Saiz during the Razorbacks' 98-80 victory Saturday.

Kingsley posted 14 points and 13 rebounds -- his first double-double since a 10-point, 11-rebound effort in Arkansas' 71-70 victory at Vanderbilt on Jan. 24. Kingsley also contributed 4 blocked shots, 3 assists and 1 steal in his 28 minutes.

"We got the old Moses back," Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. "He's doing all the things that garnered him all the attention."

Thompson filled his stat line with 8 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocked shots, 3 steals and 3 assists in 23 minutes.

"Trey Thompson, I can't say enough," Anderson said. "He makes a big, big difference on this team."

Saiz -- the SEC leader in rebounding (11.2) and double-doubles (17) -- made 2 of 13 shots, scored 8 points and had 5 rebounds.

"You go on the road and you try to establish an inside presence and get to the free-throw line," Ole Miss Coach Andy Kennedy said. "Well, obviously our inside presence is Sebastian Saiz and he had a rough night.

"Then you're dependent on things where you don't really have an opportunity to beat a team like Arkansas in this building, by living and dying on the perimeter."

Thompson got hot on the block late in the first half, with all three of his blocked shots coming in the final 3:34 of the first 20 minutes.

Kingsley and Thompson combined to block three Saiz shots.

"Moses just had my back when he made a move," Thompson said.

"Trey did a good job of anticipating where he was going to be, and then Moses came on the other side and blocked it," Anderson said. "I thought we had him a little bit off beat tonight."

Arkansas won the rebounding battle 42-40.

Macon threes

Arkansas' Daryl Macon hit a season-high number of three-pointers, going 6 of 9, and scoring a career-high 30 points.

Macon became the 14th Arkansas player to score 30 or more points in an SEC game. Those 14 players have combined for 22 games of 30-plus points.

Macon is believed to be the first Razorback to score 30 off the bench since Jannero Pargo, who had 35 against Florida and 33 against Alabama in back-to-back games in 2002.

Scoring big

Ole Miss Coach Andy Kennedy said the problems his team had against Arkansas came almost exclusively on the defensive end.

"Our issue is giving up 98 points," Kennedy said. "Has anybody ever beaten Arkansas when they scored 98 points in Bud Walton Arena? I dare to say no, so we certainly weren't going to be the first one. We don't guard."

Kennedy was right; Arkansas has never lost at Walton Arena when scoring 98 or more points.

Clinching .500

Arkansas improved to 9-5 in the SEC with the victory, assuring the Razorbacks will finish with at least a .500 record in league play for the fifth consecutive season.

The Razorbacks had losing SEC records nine times in the 11 years before Anderson's arrival for the 2011-12 season. His first Arkansas team went 6-10, but since then the Hogs have gone 10-8, 10-8, 13-5 and 9-9 in league play.

Bench binge

Arkansas, bolstered by Daryl Macon's 30 points, outscored the Ole Miss bench 51-12. Anton Beard backed up Macon's big game with 11 points, including 3 of 6 from the three-point line, while Trey Thompson added 8 points and Adrio Bailey scored 2.

Board notch

Moses Kingsley had 13 rebounds, one short of his season high, to give him 698 for his career. The 6-10 senior from Abuja, Nigeria, surpassed Andrew Lang for No. 6 in career rebounds at Arkansas.

Throwing down

The Razorbacks made 20 consecutive free throws against the Rebels. The streak started at the 18:58 mark of the first half when Dustin Thomas made the second try on a two-shot foul. Jaylen Barford (3 for 3), Thomas (3 for 3), Dusty Hannahs (2 for 2), Daryl Macon (4 for 4), Moses Kingsley (6 for 6) and Anton Beard (2 for 2) all contributed to the streak before Macon missed the last of a three-shot try with 8:32 left in the game.

Arkansas finished 24 of 27 at the line for 88.9 percent.

Beard slide

Guard Anton Beard made a pair of crowd-pleasing plays a couple of minutes apart midway through the first half. With the shot clock winding down, Beard drained a three-point shot at the top of the key to put the Hogs ahead 16-12.

A few moments later, after Trey Thompson tipped the ball away from Ole Miss guard Cullen Neal into the backcourt, Rebels guard Terence Davis was first to the ball. Beard slid head first to punch it away further downcourt for teammate Dusty Hannahs.

"It gives you an adrenaline rush when you start making those plays," Coach Mike Anderson said. "We haven't done it as much as I wanted to this year, but it is good to see us start doing those kind of things."

Who's here?

An array of former Arkansas star athletes were introduced during the game.

In the first half, ex-basketball players Bobby Portis and Alandise Harris were introduced, preceded by track star Jarrion Lawson, who had his Bowerman Award in tow.

In the second half, ex-football stars Chris Gragg and Jarius Wright, both Warren High graduates, called the Hogs from half court.

Thomas in

Forward Dustin Thomas made his first start since Feb. 7 against Vanderbilt and his 18th start of the season, leading to Arkansas' 12th different starting lineup. The junior joined center Moses Kingsley, the only Razorback to start all 27 games, Jaylen Barford (21 starts), Dusty Hannahs (14) and Manny Watkins (14) in the starting five.

Big brother

Ole Miss guard Deandre Burnett is the older brother of former Florida State running back Dalvin Cook, who has declared early for the NFL Draft.

Burnett, a native of Miami, began his college career at the University of Miami. Burnett took the last name of his mother, Varondria Burnett, while Cook has the last name of his father, James Cook.

Sports on 02/19/2017