MCBB: Ole Miss jumps to No. 17 as Mississippi State falls out of AP rankings

Ole Miss moved up two spots to No. 17 and Mississippi State fell out of the latest men’s basketball top 25 from the Associated Press.

Chris Beard’s Rebels saw a surge in the poll after a 31-point thrashing of Southern Miss in the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum on Saturday. A strong defensive showing headlined an overall dominant performance by the red and blue. Ole Miss forced 17 turnovers, which paved the way for 24 points to be tacked onto the scoreboard.

Virginia Tech transfer Sean Pedulla scored 18 points and Sam Houston State transfer Davon Barnes grabbed 11 rebounds in the 77-46 blowout as the Rebels were without veteran guard Matthew Murrell. The 46 points scored by the Golden Eagles was the fewest Ole Miss had surrendered in three years.

Ole Miss will return to the hardwood on Tuesday night to face Southern University. The game will tip off in Oxford at 6 p.m. CT.

While Mississippi State, previously ranked No. 25, did not add to the loss column this past weekend, a three-point win over McNeese State in Tupelo was enough to knock the Bulldogs out of the rankings.

Led by strong performances by Georgia transfer RJ Melendez and sophomore sensation Josh Hubbard, Chris Jans’ crew was able to weather a hard-fought battle with Will Wade’s club and come out a 66-63 victor. Melendez had 18 points in the contest while Hubbard had 16.

Next up for the Bulldogs is a Tuesday night matchup against Central Michigan at the Mississippi Coliseum in Jackson at 6:30 p.m. CT.

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 can be found below: