FAYETTEVILLE -- The Arkansas Razorbacks stayed hot and cooled off Ole Miss on Wednesday night.
The Razorbacks beat the Rebels 74-59 in Walton Arena before an announced crowd of 4,400 -- the maximum allowed under coronavirus safety protocols -- for the University of Arkansas' first three-game SEC winning streak in Eric Musselman's two seasons as coach.
It's the first three-game SEC winning streak for Arkansas since the Razorbacks ended the 2018-19 regular season under Mike Anderson by beating Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Alabama.
Arkansas (13-4, 5-4 SEC) has beaten Auburn 75-73, Vanderbilt 92-71 and Ole Miss since losing back-to-back road games at LSU 92-76 and Alabama 90-59.
"After the two losses at Alabama and at LSU, I feel like we weren't in sync," said junior guard JD Notae, who led the Razorbacks with 19 points off the bench. "But now, you can feel it.
[Video not showing up above? Click here to watch » https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P26Diah46bc]
"I feel like we're starting to get our groove back, people are starting to play with more confidence. So I feel like that carries over to this three-game winning streak that we have."
The Razorbacks led by as many as 20 points in the second half against an Ole Miss team that won at Mississippi State 64-46 and beat Texas A&M 61-50 last week.
"There's no doubt that Ole Miss has been playing really good basketball," Musselman said. "They came in on a two-game win streak. They played really well of late.
"I think they came in confident. I thought our crowd was really good. During a pandemic, it's awesome to sit there and say you feel some good energy at a game. I felt great energy. Our players felt great energy."
Arkansas 7-3 sophomore Connor Vanover was big on both ends for the Razorbacks with 8 points, 7 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.
"Conner was awesome," Musselman said. "The stat sheet doesn't do him justice because I thought his impact on the game was incredible."
Vanover impressed Ole Miss Coach Kermit Davis, too.
"The big kid had [five] blocks and intimidated us around the goal a couple of times," Davis said. "We couldn't score on the post. We just have to get some more guys that can score and just go right at them."
The 59 points were a season low for Ole Miss, which shot 43.9% from the field (25 of 57).
Musselman said Vanover's size was key to attacking the Rebels' 1-3-1 defense.
"Connor was so vital against the 1-3-1 because we just threw the ball over the top to him in the corner," Musselman said. "Once you get the ball into the corner against a 1-3-1, it flattens that defense out."
Ole Miss was 1 of 16 on three-pointers and missed its first 14 attempts before Matthew Murrell made one with 9:46 left to cut Arkansas' lead to 53-36.
Senior guard Jalen Tate answered with a three-pointer to put the Razorbacks ahead 56-36. Ole Miss didn't pull closer than 13 points the rest of the game.
"I thought our transition defense was good," Musselman said. "I thought our half-court defense was good. I thought that some of our special defenses from a trapping standpoint were pretty good.
"I thought we guarded the lane tonight maybe better than we have all year. I thought our paint defense was really good, which we need to carry over because Oklahoma State [where Arkansas plays on Saturday] is so good in the paint."
Arkansas used a 12-2 run -- with Notae scoring the last seven points -- to push its lead to 53-33 with 10:06 left.
The Razorbacks took the lead for good in the first half by outscoring Ole Miss 9-0 over a 1:17 span to move ahead 22-13.
Freshman Davonte "Devo" Davis fueled the run with 6 points, 2 rebounds and 1 steal. He finished the game with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals off the bench.
"Devo always plays with intensity that can't be matched," Notae said. "He goes out there, we'll call a play for him, he just does his thing.
"He'll be everywhere on the floor defensively and offensively. I mean, Devo's just being Devo."
Senior forward Justin Smith had 10 points and six rebounds for the Razorbacks. Tate and junior guard Desi Sills each scored nine points.
Senior guard Devontae Shuler led Ole Miss (8-7, 3-5) with 19 points. Junior guard Jarkel Joiner added 11 points for the Rebels, and sophomore forward Luis Rodriguez had 10.
The Razorbacks shot 48.1% (26 of 54) and hit 7 of 17 three-pointers.
"How do you respond when you lose two games, that becomes really important," Musselman said of the three-game winning streak. "We stunk in both of those games [at LSU and Alabama], but we regrouped.
"We've handled what we're supposed to. We've won games by playing really hard through 40 minutes."
Game sketch
RECORDS Arkansas 13-4, 5-4 SEC; Ole Miss 8-7, 3-5
STARS Arkansas junior guard JD Notae (19 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists), freshman guard Davonte Davis (14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals) and sophomore forward Connor Vanover (8 points, 7 rebounds, 5 blocked shots)
KEY STAT The Razorbacks outscored the Rebels 33-11 in bench points.
