Mississippi 81, Arkansas 72

3/4/2008 10:39 PM

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -Dwayne Curtis had 23 points and 11 rebounds to help Mississippi beat Arkansas 81-72 on Tuesday.

David Huertas scored 19 points, including 14 in the second half, and the Rebels (20-9, 6-9 Southeastern Conference) enhanced their chances of an NCAA Tournament berth.

Eniel Polynice added 12 points and eight rebounds and Chris Warren put 10 points on the board for the Rebels.

Arkansas (19-10, 8-7) never led after the opening five minutes and dropped their third game in the last four starts.

The Rebels had an early 10-0 run, highlighted by 3-point shots by Warren and Polynice, to build an 18-11 lead and increased the advantage to 39-35 by halftime.

Arkansas pulled within two points early in the second half, but Ole Miss put together eight consecutive points with 7:37 left to build their biggest lead at 66-51 on a 3-pointer by Huertas. Arkansas never got closer than six points again.

The Rebels were 18-of-25 from the free throw line, including seven in the final minute to preserve the win. Ole Miss improved to 5-3 against teams in the RPI Top 50 and have recorded 20 wins in consecutive seasons.

Arkansas was 29-of-67 from the field. The Razorbacks had only nine turnovers, but were only 5-of-19 from 3-point range and were outrebounded 37-33 to halt any comeback hopes.

Patrick Beverley scored 19 points for the Razorbacks and Darian Townes and Gary Ervin chipped in 18 apiece.