Rebels Rally Late To Edge Bulldogs

Saturday, January 6

Oxford, Miss.

3:30 PM

Mississippi State

13-2, 1-1SEC

Ole Miss

9-6, 2-1SEC

Mississippi State

Ole Miss

Aric Holman scored nine points against Ole Miss on Saturday.

Rebels Rally Late To Edge Bulldogs

January 06, 2018 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Official Stats (PDF)Photo Gallery Ben Howland Postgame Comments

OXFORD, Miss. – Mississippi State saw an 11-point second-half lead slip away in a 64-58 loss to rival Ole Miss Saturday at The Pavilion.

MSU (13-2, 1-1) dropped its seventh straight game in Oxford, while also seeing a five-game winning streak snapped. Ole Miss (9-6, 2-1) won for the eighth time in the last nine series meetings.

"We played well for 30 minutes," MSU coach Ben Howland said. "At the end of the game, we were impatient and tried to rush things. We didn't protect the ball, and we didn't make smart decisions. We got a little rushed. Credit to Ole Miss, playing in a fun atmosphere, down 11 there late in the game. They made enough plays to come all the way back."

While both teams struggled offensively throughout the contest, MSU used a rebounding advantage for second chance points, helping to build a comfortable lead.

A Nick Weatherspoon dunk capped a 6-0 run to give the Bulldogs a 21-15 lead. The Rebels were back within one before the Bulldogs reeled off 12-straight points. A 3-pointer by Eli Wright capped the run and gave the Bulldogs a 33-20 lead with 3:25 left before halftime.

Overall, MSU shot 39.4 percent from the field in the first half and led 34-28 at halftime.

"Eli Wright really gave us some great minutes off the bench," Howland said. "He had eight rebounds, that was only behind Xavian Stapleton (who had nine). We need more people getting in there and getting those rebounds. Defensively, I like where we are right now. Offensively, we have a long way to go. All we can do is get in the gym and keep working at it."

Ole Miss quickly whittled a seven-point lead down to one in the opening minutes of the second half. Not deterred, the Bulldogs ran the lead back out to 50-39 with 10:39 left.

In the second half, the Bulldogs were 0 for 13 from 3-point range. An inability to consistently attack the

Ole Miss 1-3-1 defense also plagued MSU. The Bulldogs had more answers for a defensive switch in the first half but could not consistently attack it in the second half.

Ole Miss battled back for a 53-53 tie on a layup from Breein Tyree with 5:05 left. A jumper by Bruce Stevens gave the Rebels the lead for good with 2:02 left.

For the contest, MSU hit 22 of 63 shots from the field (34.9 percent), 5 of 23 shots from 3-point range (21.7 percent) and 9 of 17 shots from the foul line (52.9 percent). Ole Miss hit 21 of 62 shots from the field (33.9 percent), 7 of 28 shots from 3-point range (25.0 percent) and 15 of 22 shots from the foul line (68.2 percent).

MSU held a 45-41 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs had 13 assists and 14 turnovers, while the Rebels had 10 assists and seven turnovers.

Ole Miss received 21 points from Deandre Burnett, 16 points from Tyree and 10 points from Devontae Shuler.

MSU remains on the road for a Wednesday night contest at Florida. The Bulldogs and Gators play at 6 p.m. CT on the SEC Network. The next game at Humphrey Coliseum is at 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday when Auburn comes to town, again on the SEC Network.