The Final Horn: No. 15 State 84, No. 21 Ole Miss 81

Saturday, January 18

Starkville

5 p.m.

Mississippi State

15-3,3-2SEC

#21 Ole Miss

15-3,4-1SEC

OT 1

Ole Miss

Mississippi St.

The Final Horn: No. 15 State 84, No. 21 Ole Miss 81

January 18, 2025 | Men's Basketball, Joel Coleman

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A quick rundown of MSU’s win over the Rebels.

By: Joel Coleman, Senior Writer

THE BOTTOM LINE: Fueled by another sold-out, electric Humphrey Coliseum crowd, No. 15 Mississippi State stormed out of the gate on Saturday and scored the first 11 points of the evening against No. 21 Ole Miss, survived a second-half Rebel rally, then ultimately secured a thrilling 84-81 overtime victory. The Bulldogs led by as many as 14 points in the contest, however the Rebels battled back to force a decisive extra five minutes of action. In the overtime period, Ole Miss took its first leads of the game, but the advantages were short-lived for the Rebels as the resilient Dawgs got it done. State surged ahead for good on arguably the most incredible sequence of the season. With under two minutes left in overtime, Ole Miss was sprinting down the court with a fastbreak opportunity that looked sure to increase the Rebels' one-point lead to three. Instead, State's RJ Melendez chased down the ball and blocked the layup from behind. KeShawn Murphy collected the rock and then tossed it to Josh Hubbard near midcourt. Hubbard then lobbed a pass to Cameron Matthews near the basket who made a quick dish to Riley Kugel in the corner for a trey that put MSU in front 79-77. Ole Miss did get a chance at a game-tying three in the final couple of seconds but couldn't get the shot to fall and the celebration was on in Starkville. MSU improved to 15-3 for the season and now holds a 3-2 mark in Southeastern Conference play.

KEY NUMBERS: It's hard to overlook Kugel's evening in his return to action after missing the previous game due to injury. Kugel had an all-around great night, leading State with 21 points, not to mention three rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. And obviously there was his contest-changing 3-ball late. But the numbers that really pop off the page of the stat sheet come under the team rebounding column. MSU dominated the boards, outrebounding the Rebels by a whopping 22, a final tally of 51-29. State's 19 offensive rebounds led to 19 second-chance points in a matchup where every single point was critical.

NEXT UP FOR THE DAWGS: Mississippi State hits the road in the midweek once again. MSU travels to Tennessee to battle the Volunteers on Tuesday, Jan. 21. Tip time at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be televised by ESPN 2.

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