MCBB: Mississippi State, Ole Miss surge in AP Top 25 amid SEC gauntlet

Another week of college basketball wrapped up in the Magnolia State over the weekend with both Mississippi State and Ole Miss rising in the polls. Both programs split their two most recent contests, resulting in the Bulldogs moving up one spot to No. 14 in the latest top 25 from the Associated Press while the Rebels surged five slots to No. 16.

Mississippi State (15-3, 3-2 SEC), which dropped a hard-fought home matchup against Kentucky two Saturdays ago, was on the brink of disaster after suffering an 88-66 defeat at No. 1 Auburn on Tuesday. Recognizing the “must-win” nature of the contest, Chris Jans and company defended home court on Saturday in an in-state rivalry against Ole Miss (15-3, 4-1 SEC).

The Bulldogs jumped off to a double-digit lead and held an advantage on the scoreboard for an overwhelming majority of the contest, but Ole Miss threatened often in the second half. A three-pointer by Rebel guard Matthew Murrell sent the game into overtime.

From there, Ole Miss took its first lead of the night and had the sold-out crowd on pins and needles. Mississippi State guard RJ Melendez was the catalyst of a five-point swing that ultimately sent the Bulldogs over the hump (pun intended).

With under two minutes on the clock, standout Mississippi State sophomore Josh Hubbard missed a jumper and the ball was secured by Davon Barnes, who ultimately found Murrell in transition for what looked to be a go-ahead fastbreak bucket to give Ole Miss its largest advantage of the evening.

Melendez rejected Murrell’s layup, delivering what Bulldog frontman Chris Jans dubbed to be “by far” the biggest play of the game. In transition, Cam Matthews crashed to the basket while securing a lob from Josh Hubbard but elected to pass it out to Riley Kugel, who hit a triple to put Mississippi State back on top — ultimately delivering a much-needed win for the maroon and white.

A full recap of Saturday’s overtime thriller in Starkville can be found here.

The loss did not hurt Ole Miss’ standing in the polls, largely because the Rebels secured the program’s first-ever road win over a top-five opponent earlier in the week. On Tuesday, Chris Beard’s crew walked into Coleman Coliseum and took down No. 4 Alabama 74-64. Belmont transfer Malik Dia led the way with 23 points and 19 rebounds in the contest.

Both Mississippi State and Ole Miss have a tough but manageable road ahead. The Bulldogs will travel to No. 6 Tennessee to take on the Volunteers on Tuesday at 6 p.m. before traveling to South Carolina on Saturday. Next up for the Rebels is a Wednesday home outing against No. 13 Texas A&M at 8 p.m. ahead of Saturday’s road matchup at No. 22 Missouri.

As always, Ole Miss and Mississippi State basketball games are broadcast on participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations along with various television providers. The full AP Top 25, which features nine SEC teams, can be found below: