Ole Miss Blows Out Top Ten Mizzou

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

Ole Miss continued its success on the court Wednesday night against No. 10 Missouri Tigers with an 80-59 win. In the last week, the Rebels have defeated two top 10 teams.

“Proud of our team,” head coach Kermit Davis said. “Cuonzo’s (Martin) team is top 10 in America and they are deserving of all the wins that they have had.”

Ole Miss (11-8, 6-6 SEC) played well in all facets of the game on offense and defense. For the second straight game, Ole Miss scored 80-plus points in a contest. The Rebels had three players in double figures, all led by junior Jarkel Joiner with 21 points. Senior Devontae Shuler scored 15 points alongside 15 from sophomore Luis Rodriguez.

“Jarkel was really, really good tonight,” Davis said.

The Rebels secured the win with a run that started late in the first half with 1:50 remaining going into the second half as Ole Miss went on a 13-0 run after leading 42-37 at the break.

“That was the critical part,” Davis said. “Missouri has been fast-starting. I thought our team got out in transition and really guarded well then. Got our hands on balls made some really good plays in the break, created offense for others. It was great to see.”

Missouri (13-4, 6-4 SEC) was led in the game by senior Dru Smith with 17 points, three rebounds and three assists.

“Those guards are elite and the biggest thing is transition, and we didn’t give up many buckets in fast breakpoints,” Davis said. “Missouri got zero. You have got to make them run a half-court offense.”

Ole Miss played tough around the rim as they pulled down 34 rebounds and only allowed the Tigers to get 19 boards.

“I thought what was key was that we out rebounded them by 15,” Davis said. “(Along) with 21 assists.”

Senior Romello White finished the game with six points, two rebounds, two assists and a steal in 12 minutes of action after getting into foul trouble.

“We found a different way to win tonight,” Davis said. “Romello was spectacular Saturday, he just fought foul trouble (4) and never really got in any kind of rhythm.”

The Rebels found their rhythm from beyond the arc against the Tigers as they went 8-of-21 and Shuler went 5-for-9 from downtown.

Ole Miss travels to Columbia, South Carolina on Saturday to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. on SEC Network.