A slugfest in Starkville ended with Ole Miss walking away 68-67 victors over Mississippi State. Saturday’s win was the first for the Rebels (11-7, 3-2 SEC) against the Bulldogs (10-8, 2-3 SEC) since 2023 and the first in Humphrey Coliseum since 2021.
A successful go-ahead floater by Ole Miss freshman Patton Pinkins, who hit a game-winning buzzer-beater versus Georgia on Wednesday night, with just under 19 seconds on the clock, gave Chris Beard’s team a one-point lead — one that standout Mississippi State guard Josh Hubbard could not overcome as he missed a layup on the last shot before the second half clock struck 0:00.
Ilias Kamardine and AJ Storr led the Rebels in scoring with 17 points apiece, while Malik Dia grabbed 11 rebounds. Meanwhile, Hubbard, the SEC’s leading scorer, was held to an uncharacteristically low 13 points. The Madison native was 3-for-16 from the floor and 5-for-10 from the charity stripe, including a pair of crucial missed free throws in the last minute of the final frame.
A jumper by Jayden Epps, followed by a pair of dunks by Shawn Jones Jr., gave Mississippi State a quick 6-0 lead to open the first half. Kamardine got Ole Miss on the board with a jumper at the 17:03 mark. From there, Chris Jans’ group put the pedal to the metal by pounding the paint. A dunk by Canton native Jamarion Davis-Fleming found the maroon and white holding a 22-11 advantage with 9:24 remaining in the half.
Then, as has happened to the Bulldogs in three straight matchups, the double-digit buffer was virtually erased, as the Rebels stormed back. A pair of jump shots by both Kamardine and Eduardo Klafke, along with a dunk by Corey Chest, cut the Ole Miss deficit to five points in a three-minute span. Rebel forward Augusto Cassia connected on a jumper at the 34-second mark, and Epps missed a last-second shot, sending the game to the midway intermission with Mississippi State leading 30-27.
A pair of early-second-half dunks by Ole Miss center James Scott gave the Rebels their first lead of the game. Mississippi State forward Achor Achor hit a rare triple to put the Bulldogs back up. Then, a back-and-forth affair played out with both teams taking turns having more points than the other on the scoreboard.
The Rebels began to build a little bit of a cushion midway through the frame. Kamardine capitalized on a three-point-play, and Pinkins drained a pair of free throws to put Ole Miss up 51-47 with 8:31 remaining. The pendulum then swung in the Bulldogs’ favor. Hubbard, who struggled from deep all night, hit a momentum-garnering triple, one that galvanized the home crowd.
Hubbard was contagious when hitting that pivotal three-pointer, as his shot widened the hoop for deep shots by Ja’Borri McGhee and Epps to go in. With 4:46 remaining in the second half, Mississippi State led 58-57. Unfazed, Ole Miss swung back. A five-point swing by the Rebels, including a three-pointer from Storr and a layup from Kamardine, put the red and blue up 64-59 at the 2:14 mark.
Hubbard’s efforts helped Mississippi State counter in crunch time. A three-pointer and a pair of made free throws by the junior gave the Bulldogs a critical 67-66 advantage late in the contest. Nonetheless, Ole Miss proved to be the more clutch team, with Pinkins’ jumper sealing the victory for the Rebels.
Both teams were dismal from behind the three-point line in the hard-fought matchup. Ole Miss was 2-for-20, or 10%, while Mississippi State was 5-for-27, or 19%, from deep. The Rebels hit 41% of all field goals. The Bulldogs shot at a 37% clip. Ole Miss, while shooting 13 fewer free throws, was more efficient at the stripe, hitting at an 80% rate compared to Mississippi State’s 61%.
In the low-scoring affair, Ole Miss took advantage of turnovers. Beard’s group coughed the ball up three fewer times than its counterpart and scored six more points than its opponent on takeaways.
Next up for Ole Miss is a Tuesday night battle versus Auburn at home at 8 p.m. CT. Mississippi State’s next matchup is at Texas A&M on Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT. Both games will air on participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations.
