Ole Miss Men’s Basketball Defeats MVSU 73-58

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

Ole Miss men’s basketball picked up a 73-58 win over the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils on Friday.

“The first twenty minutes we could not get in a rhythm and stop them,” Kermit Davis said. “Thought in the second half, we rebounded (the ball) better and played inside out. Give Mississippi Valley credit they played differently from the first two games.”

Davis added that MVSU controlled the tempo and didn’t play as fast. That helped them in this type of game.

Ole Miss (4-2) was led on the court by Jarkel Joiner and Nysiar Brooks who each added 15 points. Brooks added 10 boards for a double-double against the Delta Devils.

Brooks went 9-for-10 from the free-throw line.

“Nysa and Robert Allen had really good energy,” Davis said.

The Rebels had a total of four players in double figures as Luis Rodriguez and Robert Allen with 11 points apiece.

Allen’s 11 points all came in the second half of the contest.

Mississippi Valley State (0-3) kept the game close as they were led on the court by Robert Carpenter with points. Carpenter came into the day averaging 17.0 points per contest.

The Delta Devils had two other players reach double-figure points Caleb Hunter (14) and Devin Gordon (10).

Ole Miss went into the locker room down 38-33 at the half. The Rebels only trailed the Delta Devils for 4:31 on the afternoon.

The Rebels opened up the second half, on a 9-0 run to take a 42-38 lead over MVSU.

“We played downhill some and in transition,” Davis said. “They changed a few little defenses.”

At the 3:29 mark left in the game, Ole Miss got their largest lead by 18 points with a score of 73-55.

Ole Miss held Mississippi Valley State to shoot 38 percent from the field and 43 percent from beyond the arc.

The Rebels hit at 42 percent from the field, 30 percent from deep and 71 percent from the free-throw line.

Ole Miss pulled in 17 offensive rebounds and a total of 43 boards to MVSU’s 34 rebounds.

“Glad to win and move on and get ready for Rider on Tuesday,” Davis said.

Ole Miss returns to action on Tuesday as they play host to Rider. The tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. and can be streamed on SEC Network+.