Mississippi 64, Missouri 49
OXFORD, Miss. -- Mississippi's Rebels decided not to be kind hosts to No. 10 Missouri in the Tigers' first trip on the road in the Southeastern Conference. Ole Miss remained undefeated at home and improved to 2-0 in SEC play with an impressive 64-49 win over Missouri in front of a raucous crowd of 9,173 at C.M. "Tad" Smith Coliseum.
As solid as the Rebels (13-2, 2-0 in SEC games) played in the first half, they were much, much better in the final 20 minutes of play against the Tigers, who only shot 36.8 percent from the floor. Senior forward Murphy Holloway led the Rebels with 22 points. Jarvis Summers had 12 and Marshall Henderson finished with 11 points for Ole Miss. Missouri, which fell to 12-3 overall and 1-1 in the SEC, was led by Jabari Brown's 13 points.
Ole Miss went 22-for-56 from the floor but finished 15-for-20 from the free throw line and within one rebound (38) of Missouri, which entered the game leading the SEC in rebounding margin. Ole Miss held a double-digit lead all of the second half and led by as many as 20 points with just over five minutes left in the contest.
Scoring points was a problem for the Tigers all night, but especially in the first half. The Tigers shot just 14 percent (2-for-14) in the first nine and a half minutes of the contest. The less-than-ideal start found the Tigers trailing the Rebels 31-22 at the half.
The Rebels, who led by as many as 13 points in the first half, didn't have the same problem as the Tigers from the floor, but they didn't scorch the net either, shooting 38 percent in the opening 20 minutes of action.
Ole Miss' inability to shoot any better kept the Tigers within striking distance as the half drew to a close. Missouri was able to erase the 13-point deficit by scoring 10 of the game's 12 points from the 8:13 mark until a dunk by Ole Miss' Aaron Jones with 4:01 left. The Rebels did get two 3-pointers from Derrick Millinghaus and two free throws in the final two minutes to keep the lead at three possessions.
NOTES: Missouri, which came into the contest leading the SEC in rebounding averaging 45.3 per game, grabbed 20 in the opening half and finished with 39. ... The Tigers were without leading scorer Laurence Bowers for the game. He sprained his MCL in the SEC opener against Alabama. ... Ole Miss is off to a 2-0 in SEC play for the first time under coach Andy Kennedy, who is now in his seventh season in Oxford.
