Hogs Fall

Wednesday, February 2nd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- Marcus Hicks scored 17 of his career-high 31 points in the first half for Mississippi, but the Rebels nearly blew a 22-point lead and had to hold on to beat Arkansas 87-82 on Wednesday.
Mississippi (14-7, 2-6 Southeastern Conference) needed several free throws down the stretch to avenge an earlier loss to the Razorbacks. Arkansas (11-9, 3-4), which has dropped four of its last eight games, pulled within 83-82 on two free throws by Chris Walker with 20 seconds left. Ole Miss, however, hit four free throws and forced two Arkansas misses from the field to preserve the win.
Jason Flanigan scored 12 points and Rahim Lockhart had 10 for the Rebels. Teddy Gipson led Arkansas with 18. Arkansas beat Ole Miss 71-64 in Fayetteville on Jan. 5.
The Rebels have beaten Arkansas in six of the last eight meetings, including four straight in Oxford. Hicks finished with a game-high 10 rebounds and five dunks.
Ole Miss opened the game with a 12-0 run, highlighted by a pair of baskets from Rahim Lockhart and freshman guard Emmanuel Wade. Hicks completed the four-minute spurt with a dunk. Joe Johnson snapped the streak for Arkansas with a pair of free throws with 14:30 left. The Razorbacks did not score a basket until Brian Davis connected on a twisting layup with 12:58 remaining to cut the lead to 14-6.
Arkansas, on the strength of four consecutive three-point shots, went on a 16-5 run midway through the first half. Larry Satchell's free throw with 4:53 left gave Arkansas its only lead at 27-26. Ole Miss put together a 14-3 run to close the first half. The Rebels led 34-29 at the half. Arkansas made one final charge, outscoring the Rebels 26-8 in the final 10 minutes but the run has not enough.