Arkansas 83, Mississippi 66

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) Patrick Beverley scored 24 points and Sonny Weems added 19 to lead Arkansas over Mississippi 83-66 Saturday.<br/><br/>The Razorbacks (16-10, 5-7) went on a 15-2 run after leading

Saturday, February 17th 2007, 6:09 pm

By: News On 6

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) Patrick Beverley scored 24 points and Sonny Weems added 19 to lead Arkansas over Mississippi 83-66 Saturday.

The Razorbacks (16-10, 5-7) went on a 15-2 run after leading 39-38 at halftime, and Ole Miss never recovered. The Rebels (17-9, 6-6) began rushing shots and allowing Arkansas to shoot open 3-pointers.

There are now no teams in the SEC West above .500 in conference play.

Beverley started Arkansas' run with a 3-pointer, which prompted a quick timeout by Mississippi coach Andy Kennedy, 28 seconds into the second half.

The Rebels then turned the ball over, and Beverley made another 3-pointer from almost the same spot. Beverley later added a driving layup to make it 49-40, and Kennedy called time out again with 17:03 remaining.

Another 3-pointer by Beverley, again from the right wing, made it 54-40, and the freshman provided another highlight when he tossed an alley-oop pass over his shoulder to a trailing Weems for a dunk and a 60-48 lead.

Weems and Sean McCurdy then made back-to-back 3-pointers, and the lead reached 21 at 69-48 when 7-footer Steven Hill scored inside. The Razorbacks led by as many as 25.

Arkansas went 12-28 from 3-point range -- Beverley was 6-11.

Darian Townes and Charles Thomas scored 12 points each for the Razorbacks, and Gary Ervin had 7-points and 8-assists.

Clarence Sanders scored 15 for the Rebels, but Bam Doyne was held to 7 on 2-12 shooting. He had been averaging 16.4 a game.

The Razorbacks desperately needed a win after two straight losses that damaged their NCAA tournament hopes. They went to the NCAAs last season for the first time since 2001, when Nolan Richardson was coach.

Arkansas scored the game's first 8-points and led 24-16 before the Rebels went on an 11-2 run. Ole Miss never led by more than two.

Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles announced earlier in the day he will retire at the end of this year. He has been with the school -- as football coach and now athletic director -- for five decades.