Oxford, Miss. ? Mississippi slowed the tempo, frustrating a quick and high-scoring Florida squad.

Aaron Harper scored 18 points as Ole Miss gave its postseason resume a big boost by defeating No. 6 Florida, 68-51, Saturday.

The Rebels’ best shot at beating the deeper and more athletic Gators was to make it an ugly game, and that’s exactly what they did.

Ole Miss (19-7, 8-5 Southeastern Conference) snarled the highest-scoring offense in the SEC, holding the Gators (19-5, 8-4) to their lowest point total in six seasons under coach Billy Donovan.

“They’re an 80-, 90-point scoring team. We know we’re not going to get into a race with them,” Ole Miss guard David Sanders said. “We wanted to try to slow them down and make them work for everything they got.”

Matt Bonner was a one-man gang for the usually balanced Gators. Bonner had 19 points and eight rebounds. He was 7-for-11 from the field as the Gators shot just 29 percent.

Florida’s Udonis Haslem and Brett Nelson were nonfactors. Nelson, who Donovan said was battling the flu, was shut out and missed all nine of his shots. Haslem scored 14 points, but was 3-for-10 from the floor and in foul trouble most of the game.

“We haven’t been dominated physically like this since my first year when we started three walk-ons,” Donovan said.

Ole Miss made 10 of 24 three-pointers and knocked down 22 of 27 from the foul line.

Sanders had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and his defense was largely responsible for Nelson’s first scoreless game in more than two years. Justin Reed had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Ole Miss.

No. 7 Alabama 95, Tennessee 82

Tuscaloosa, Ala. Â Erwin Dudley had 25 points and Earnest Shelton matched a career high with 21 as Alabama overcame a career-high 30 points by Tennessee’s Marcus Haislip. The Crimson Tide (22-4, 10-2 SEC) took a two-game lead over Florida despite missing their first 13 shots after halftime. The Vols (13-12, 6-6) took a 51-48 lead in that six-plus minute drought for Alabama, but the Tide countered with a decisive 22-6 run.

No. 25 USC 94,

No. 9 Arizona 89

Los Angeles  David Bluthenthal scored 23 of his career-high 31 points in the second half, and Sam Clancy had 28 points and 11 rebounds for USC. By winning for just the second time in their last 10 games against Arizona, the Trojans (18-7, 10-4 Pac-10) moved into a first-place tie in the conference. Jason Gardner led Arizona (17-8, 10-5) with 27 points.

No. 21 Georgia 78,

No. 10 Kentucky 69

Athens, Ga. Â Ezra Williams scored 20 points and Jarvis Hayes 19 as Georgia swept Kentucky for the first time in 15 years. The Bulldogs (19-7, 8-5 SEC) had consecutive victories over the Wildcats (17-7, 7-5) for only the fifth time in the series. Steve Thomas added 16 points and 12 rebounds for Georgia.

No. 8 Gonzaga 91, Pepperdine 78

Spokane, Wash. Â Dan Dickau scored 26 points as Gonzaga (24-3, 11-1) handed Pepperdine its first West Coast Conference loss. The loss snapped a 13-game winning streak for the Waves (18-7, 11-1), who hadn’t been beaten since Dec. 28 at Arizona. The streak was the longest in the nation this season.

No. 11 Marquette 75, Louisville 63

Milwaukee  Cordell Henry scored 23 points, and Dwyane Wade had 11 points, eight rebounds and seven assists and limited the Cardinals’ leading scorer, Reece Gaines, to five points. The Golden Eagles (22-3, 11-1 Conference USA), celebrating their highest ranking since March 13, 1979, also got 15 points from Oluoma Nnamaka. Bryant Northern led Louisville (14-10, 5-7) with 17 points.

No. 12 Stanford 76, Washington State 63

Pullman, Wash. Â Curtis Borchardt had 19 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks, and Stanford began the second half with a 17-5 run that shook off Washington State. Stanford (17-6, 10-4 Pac-10) got 24 points from Casey Jacobsen, which helped negate a 29-point effort from Washington State’s Marcus Moore. The Cardinal earned its 12 straight victory in the series.

No. 14 Pittsburgh 85,

West Virginia 75

Morgantown, W.Va. Â Brandin Knight scored a career-high 29 points as Pittsburgh extended its winning streak to four games. Pitt (22-4, 10-3 Big East) won for the seventh time in eight games and can clinch at least a tie for the conference’s West Division title with a win at home against Rutgers on Thursday.

No. 17 Oregon 91,

Oregon State 62

Eugene, Ore. Â Frederick Jones scored 23 points and Luke Ridnour added 20 as Oregon beat Oregon State and moved into a three-way tie for first place in the Pac-10. Luke Jackson finished with 19 points for the Ducks (18-7, 10-4 Pac-10), who improved to 14-0 at McArthur Court and moved into a tie atop the conference with USC and Stanford.

No. 18 Illinois 75,

Seton Hall 65

East Rutherford, N.J. Â Brian Cook had season highs of 23 points and 15 rebounds, and Frank Williams added 19 points as Illinois (19-7) earned its fourth straight victory. Cook scored 10 points in the Illini’s closing 21-6 run that the gave them a 45-30 lead at the break. Freshman John Allen led Seton Hall (12-13) with 18 points.

Arizona State 69,

No. 20 UCLA 68

Los Angeles  Curtis Millage snapped a tie with a three-pointer with 13.8 seconds to give Arizona State its first victory at Pauley Pavilion in exactly 15 years. Kyle Dodd missed the front end of a one-and-one with 2.3 seconds left. Chad Prewitt scored 22 points for Arizona State (14-10, 7-8 Pac-10), which had lost 25 of its last 26 games against UCLA. Dan Gadzuric scored 17 points UCLA (17-8, 9-5).

No 23 Ohio St. 72, Iowa 66

Iowa City, Iowa  Boban Savovic scored 15 points, including two late baskets as Ohio State (18-5, 9-3) rallied to take a half-game lead over Indiana in the Big Ten Conference. Reggie Evans, the conference’s leading rebounder and the No. 2 scorer for Iowa (15-12, 4-9) did not play. Coach Steve Alford sat Evans for skipping classes.

No. 24 N.C. State 83, Clemson 54

Raleigh, N.C. Â Anthony Grundy scored 23 points and Marcus Melvin had nine over a span of 1:22 in the second half as N.C. State rebounded from its worst loss of the season.

The Wolfpack (19-7, 8-5 Atlantic Coast) fell to top-ranked Duke by 37 points Thursday, surrendering a season-high 108 points.

Ilian Evtimov added 18 points for the Wolfpack.