Ole Miss Men’s Basketball Defeats Florida

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

Ole Miss men’s basketball defeated the Florida Gators 70-54 on Monday night inside the SJB Pavilion.

Ole Miss (10-9, 2-5 SEC) was led on the floor by Daeshun Ruffin with 21 points. Matthew Murrell was right behind him with 20 points.

Two other Rebels finished in double figures Nysier Brooks 11 points and Luis Rodriquez with 10 points. Both Brooks and Rodriquez had a team-high seven rebounds against the Gators.

Ole Miss found its rhythm in the second half, shooting 73.9 percent from the field on 17-of-23 shooting — the best second-half shooting performance against an SEC opponent since 2008 (March 1, 2008, vs. Alabama, 18-24, .750) and best overall in the second half since 2009 (Dec. 23, 2009, vs. Centenary, 21-28, .750). The Rebels doubled-down, forcing the Gators (12-7, 3-4 SEC) to an Ole Miss SEC season-low 13.8 percent from beyond the arc on a 4-of-29 performance.

“It was good to see tonight. We withstood runs, and obviously, Mike [White] does such a good job with how hard they play and just their ability to be a pressing team,” said Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis. “It always makes you nervous when you’re behind a team that presses all the time, and I thought we handled that pressure well with 17 assists, 10 turnovers and four guys in double figures.”

Florida was led by Jason Jitoboh with 12 points.

The Rebels defense held the Gators to 4-for-29 from beyond the arc. Ole Miss shot 4-for-13 from three. 

The Rebels got to the line 20 times and knocked down 16 on the night.

Ole Miss returns to the court on Wednesday as they welcome the Arkansas Razorbacks into the SJB Pavilion. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. and can be seen on SEC Network.