Conference play continued for both Ole Miss and Mississippi State on Saturday with one program continuing a hot streak as the other suffered a close loss against one of the sport’s most storied programs.
Here’s what went down in the Magnolia State:
No. 23 Ole Miss 77, LSU 65
In Oxford, a dominant second half propelled the Rebels to a third straight SEC win. Chris Beard’s team defeated LSU 77-65 in the SJB Pavilion despite a lackadaisical early showing.
Ole Miss (14-2, 3-0 SEC) went up 7-0, stamped by a three-pointer by Jaylen Murray. LSU (11-5, 0-3 SEC) countered with a 15-0 run as five Tigers found buckets to help take the lead. Malik Dia, coming off his best performance of the season against Arkansas, helped the Rebels get back into a rhythm following a near-six-minute scoring drought.
LSU’s Cam Carter hit a long triple just outside the midcourt logo ahead of the shot clock expiring to extend LSU’s lead. Matthew Murrell nailed consecutive triples to give the Rebels a boost and knot it up 23-23 with 3:40 left in the half.
Both teams exchanged triples and Jaemyn Brakefield took his defender to the basket to put Ole Miss up 28-26 at the midway intermission. Ole Miss had an uncharacteristic nine turnovers through 20 minutes.
Dia had a dunk off of a fastbreak and a layup in the first two minutes of the second half, then hit a dagger of a three-pointer to give Ole Miss a 48-32 advantage with 12:54 on the clock. From that point, the Tigers were unable to get back into the contest.
Eight minutes later, Murray connected on a triple and Brakefield had a dunk before draining a pair of free throws to give the Rebels a 21-point lead — their largest of the night — with just over two minutes left of action. After Beard called off the dogs, Mike Williams III and Robert Miller III led LSU on an 11-2 run to make the final score look more respectable.
The Rebels were diverse in scoring, with five players putting 10 or more points on the board. Dia led the way with 19. He also secured a team-best seven rebounds. Brakefield scored 16 points, Pedulla amassed 11, and Murray and Dre Davis had 10 apiece. Overall, Ole Miss shot 49% from the floor, including a 36% night from behind the arc.
LSU was limited by Ole Miss’ defense and was forced to heave up a multitude of shots late in the shot clock. This yielded a 22.6% performance from three-point range. Matt McMahon’s group was headlined by Cam Carter, who had 16 points, and Daimion Collins, with 14 on the scoreboard.
Ole Miss won the turnover battle, coughing the ball up four fewer times than its conference counterpart. LSU secured one more rebound than the Rebels on Saturday. The Rebels shined in transition, earning 20 points — 11 more than LSU.
Next up for Ole Miss is a midweek matchup at No. 5 Alabama on Tuesday. The game will tip off from Tuscaloosa at 6 p.m. CT and will be aired on ESPNU as well as participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations.
No. 14 Mississippi State 90, No. 6 Kentucky 95
A clash between heavyweights was on display in front of a sold-out crowd in Humphrey Coliseum and the high-scoring battle went down to the wire. Unfortunately for Mississippi State, the Bulldogs were unable to break a 16-year curse of losing to Kentucky at home and an eight-game winning streak was snapped.
Mississippi State (14-2, 2-1 SEC), playing off of the energy of the electric crowd, opened things up on an 11-5 run with standout veterans Josh Hubbard and Cam Matthews serving as the catalysts. Kentucky (13-3, 2-1 SEC) battled back, jumping ahead 12-11 with 14:04 left in the first half.
After both teams traded blows, Jaxson Robinson aided the Wildcats in separating on the scoreboard over the next four minutes. Matthews’ efforts helped the Bulldogs knot it up 24-24 with just under 10 minutes on the clock. From there, Mississippi State forced multiple turnovers and flipped the scoreboard, but the pendulum went on to swing in Kentucky’s favor in the waning minutes before the midway intermission.
Trailing 46-40 with 28 seconds remaining in the half, Hubbard connected on a three-pointer and was fouled. The sophomore completed the four-point swing to give the Bulldogs a burst of momentum. But Lamont Butler, who committed the foul against Hubbard, made up for his error with a triple at the buzzer, deflating the home crowd and giving the Wildcats a five-point advantage at halftime.
A whirlwind of a second half was launched by Robinson leading the charge on a major Wildcat run to put Kentucky ahead 68-54 in just five minutes. Matthews and Hubbard hit triples on consecutive possessions to kickstart a comeback by the Bulldogs.
Sparring ensued, yet Kentucky held its edge until RJ Melendez scored from deep to tie things up at the 10:46 mark, capping a 17-3 run in Mississippi State’s favor. The three-ball fell for both teams over the next three minutes. Shawn Jones, Jr. and Claudell Harris, Jr. heated up at the right time to give the Bulldogs its first lead of the half as crunch time loomed.
Ansley Almonor hit a trio of clutch triples and Kentucky expanded its lead as the Wildcats worked to escape the hostile road environment. Those efforts were thwarted by a relentless Bulldog squad who stormed back to cut its deficit to one point with two minutes of clock to work with.
In the final moments of the game, Mark Pope’s bunch was able to withstand the pressure of a hostile crowd and a home team with a chip on its shoulder. Robinson and Lamont hit jumpers in the two-minute window and Hubbard went cold from behind the arc, sealing a Kentucky win in a contest that featured seven ties and 13 lead changes.
Matthews was Chris Jans’ top performer with a double-double consisting of 19 points and 10 rebounds. Hubbard had 15 points, Melendez scored 14, Harris amassed 13, and Michael Nwoko had 10 for the Bulldogs.
Kentucky, which made 56% of its shots, had six players with more than 10 points on the scoreboard. Robinson had a season-high 27. Amari Williams scored 10 and grabbed 12 rebounds in the matchup.
As a team, the Wildcats hauled in a whopping eight more boards than the Bulldogs. In a game where Kentucky shot phenominally, Mississippi State was able to keep up by forcing 13 turnovers and scoring 20 off of the giveaways.
The Bulldogs’ road ahead gets tougher. Next up on the docket is a midweek matchup at No. 2 Auburn on Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT. The game will be aired on the SEC Network as well as participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations.
