Ole Miss Men’s Basketball Drops Road Game at Mississippi State

The Ole Miss men’s basketball team took the lead midway through the second half of action, but ultimately fell to Mississippi State 64-54 on Saturday at Humphrey Coliseum.
 
A steal from Theo Akwuba and an and-one play by Myles Burns led the game off 3-0 in favor of Ole Miss (8-7, 0-3 SEC), before the Rebels led by one at the first media break 7-6. After the Bulldogs (12-3, 1-2 SEC) climbed out to an eight-point lead, a layup from Jayveous McKinnisand three from TJ Caldwell made it 18-15 with just over five minutes before halftime. A last-second layup from Matthew Murrell set the scoreboard at 26-23 in favor of the home team at the midway break.
 
Early in the second period, Murrell connected on a jumper to tie the game at 27, before Caldwell tossed a lob up to Murrell on a fast break alley-oop to put Ole Miss on top by one. A three from Jaemyn Brakefield put the Rebels up 34-30, with Ole Miss securing their largest lead of the game moments later on a pair of free throws from Burns to set the tally at 38-31.
 
With just over 10 minutes left of action, a three by Murrell over a Mississippi State defender would put Ole Miss in the driver’s seat one final time, as they stepped out in front 42-39. However, a 25-12 run from the home team closed out the game.
 
Murrell led all scorers with 19 points, adding two assists to his stat line. Brakefield added 10 points, his third-straight game with double-digits in the scoring column, while Burns led the Rebels on the glass with 10 rebounds, his third game with 10 or more this season.
 
Ole Miss returns home next and will host Auburn in the SJB Pavilion on Tuesday, January 10 at 8 p.m. CT on ESPNU.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports