By Robbie Neiswanger
Arkansas News Bureau • rneiswanger@arkansasnews.com
OXFORD, Miss. — Arkansas needed every bit of point guard Courtney Fortson’s heroics last Thursday, when the sophomore took over the game in the second half to lead the Razorbacks to a come-from-behind win against Mississippi State.
Three days later, the Razorbacks proved they could come from behind with Fortson sitting on the bench for much of the second half. And, in the process, Arkansas wiped out its 15-game Southeastern Conference road losing steak.
Arkansas, with Fortson plagued with foul trouble, rallied from a five-point halftime deficit to beat No. 18 Ole Miss 80-73 win in front of 8,719 in Tad Smith Coliseum. The Razorbacks struggled through much of the first half, but took control of the game after Fortson picked up his fourth foul with Arkansas trailing 53-48 with 12:29 remaining.
Without him, the Razorbacks leaned on post players Michael Washington and Marshawn Powell, got big 3-point baskets from Rotnei Clarke and a solid effort off the bench from backup point guard Julysses Nobles down the stretch. All helped the Razorbacks improve to 3-3 in SEC play after six games, topping their win total from the entire 2009 conference season.
“It’s obviously tough having Courtney in foul trouble because he’s our team leader,” said Clarke, who finished with 18 points on 5 of 11 shooting. “Just having him on the floor gets the team going. We knew we had to be able to pull together and stay tough. Especially on the road and playing a team like we did tonight. I thought we did a good job of uniting and coming together, especially at the end.”
Arkansas (10-11, 3-3) was rewarded with a road victory in league play for the first time since Jan. 2008, when the Razorbacks beat LSU in John Pelphrey’s first season. It also proved to be their first win at Ole Miss (16-5, 4-3) since 2005 and their second in Tad Smith Coliseum in 14 tries.
Even more, Arkansas hadn’t beaten a ranked team on the road since March 3, 2007 — former coach Stan Heath’s last season — when the Hogs knocked off then No. 19 Vanderbilt.
“We do want to win on the road,” Pelphrey said. “Make no mistake about that. Our program has in the past and we want to do that again, but a lot of these young men weren’t a part of that. … But it is special memories when you can come and win on the road.”
Arkansas can thank its patience on offense for the victory, beating Ole Miss’ zone defense with its inside-out game. The Razorbacks pounded the ball repeatedly into the post in the second half with and without Fortson on the floor.
Forwards Michael Washington (a game-high 22 points) and Marshawn Powell combined to score 41 points. Most of their work came in the second half, when the Razorbacks erased their first half struggles by feeding each player the ball.
“It took us awhile to figure out we had an advantage down low,” said Powell, who finished with 19 points and 6 rebounds. “Or we weren’t being too patient through our offense. But in the second half we did that and it worked.”
Ole Miss struggled to stop the Hogs with freshman forward Reginald Buckner sidelined with an ankle injury he suffered at Auburn on Thursday night. Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy described the 6-foot-8 Buckner as the team’s biggest and most physical post player and his absence hurt.
It also didn’t help that Ole Miss’ starting forwards — DeAundre Cranston and Terrance Henry — were in foul trouble. It left left Murphy Holloway (19 points and 17 rebounds) to carry the load inside for a team forced to play small through much of the second half.
“It really makes us go deep and we had to go small,” Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. “When we went small, they did a good job of isolating. … They hurt us at the rim.”
Arkansas took its first lead in the second half when Powell got two points inside to make it 47-45. Ole Miss responded with an 8-1 run, though, regaining the advantage. It appeared to get worse for the Hogs when Fortson — who finished with 10 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 turnovers in 27 minutes — picked up his fourth foul and was forced to sit on the bench.
But Arkansas got steady play at point guard from Nobles and senior Stefan Welsh to stay in the game. Clarke gave the Razorbacks a 60-58 advantage when he knocked down a 3-pointer and the team’s swapped the lead for several minutes.
Clarke broke a 71-71 tie by knocking down another 3-pointer with 3:11 remaining and the Hogs never trailed again.
Arkansas closed the game by hitting six straight free throws to seal the win. The Razorbacks went 23-for-27 from the stripe in the game. Once again, Powell and Washington combined for most of those (15-for-18).
“The team did a good job of really trying to make sure that before we did anything else Mike and Marshawn got a chance to touch the basketball,” Pelphrey said. “And those two young men played beautifully late.”
Because of it, Arkansas is now in the middle of the SEC Western Division race.
The Razorbacks moved one game behind Mississippi State (4-2) in the standings and are a half-game behind the Rebels (4-3). Arkansas plays at Georgia on Wednesday night.
“It’s huge for our confidence,” Clarke said of Sunday’s win at Ole Miss. “Being able to knock off Mississippi State and then come down here especially on the road and come back, it shows a lot of toughness with our basketball team.”
