Ole Miss Basketball Narrowly Loses to Dayton

By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com

Ole Miss narrowly lost to the Dayton Flyers on Saturday with a final score of 65-62.

Ole Miss (4-1) was led on the court by Devontae Shuler and KJ Buffen. Both scored 12 points each in the contest. Jarkell Joiner added 10 points, while Louis Rodriguez had a team-high 14 rebounds against the Flyers.

The Rebels shot 41% from the floor and made 17 points off of 17 forced turnovers. In this game, Dayton outscored Ole Miss 28-16 in the paint. On the glass, Ole Miss dominated the Flyers 41-24.

Dayton was led by Rodney Chatman and Jalen Crutcher, who scored 21 and 23 points respectively.

Dayton fought their way back in the game with a pair of three-pointers. The Flyers would tie the game with about five minutes left in the first half, but Shuler scored eight points, including a pair of three-pointers, and made sure to give his team enough separation going into the locker room up 31-24.
 
After a gritty and physical slugfest in the first half, Ole Miss dominated the glass with a 23-11 advantage. The Rebels also turned ten Dayton turnovers into ten points. Nine Rebel points came from the bench. Ole Miss shot 39% from the floor, with Shuler leading the way with ten points. Rodriguez and Joiner each had five.
 
To begin the second half, Ole Miss opened up a nine-point lead before having it cut to four by Dayton going into the first second half media timeout. The Flyers began to catch fire, forcing turnovers and making four straight field goals and went on a 7-0 run with 12:06 left in the second half, taking their first lead, 42-21, since early in the first.
 
The lead would change a couple of times within the next few minutes. Dayton would take the lead for good with about four minutes left in the game. Despite a few mistakes, the Rebels were victimized by free throws and missed jumpers down the stretch to drop the contest.

Ole Miss returns home on Tuesday night as they host UT Martin. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.