Missouri 98, Mississippi 79
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Phil Pressey made sure early on that Thursday night was a distant memory.
About 36 hours after playing a key role in Missouri's loss at Texas A&M, the point guard hit his first three three-pointers on the way to 22 points in a 98-79 win over Ole Miss on Saturday.
The score represented a 34-point turnaround from the first meeting between the teams, a 64-49 Rebel win in Oxford, Miss., on Jan. 12.
Missouri (17-6, 6-4 Southeastern Conference) tied a season high by making 12 three-pointers after going 2 for 18 in the previous meeting.
Pressey got an assist from Alex Oriakhi, who scored a career-high 22 points and grabbed 18 rebounds.
Oriakhi was also at the center of the game's biggest drama. With 7:31 to go, he tripped Reginald Buckner, and Buckner and Laurence Bowers exchanged shoves. Oriakhi was called for a flagrant foul, Buckner was ejected and Bowers and Jabari Brown were charged with dead-ball fouls.
Oriakhi sat for barely a minute after the skirmish and came back with seven points, six rebounds and a steal to remove any drama.
Marshall Henderson started the scoring with three free throws, but Missouri went on a 16-4 run, keyed by eight points from Pressey and two threes from Keion Bell. Bell entered the game just 4 for 21 from behind the arc this season, but he made all three attempts Saturday en route to 21 points.
Missouri led by as many as 21 points in the first half, but Ole Miss closed on a 7-0 run to cut it to 50-34 at the break.
The Tigers pushed the lead back up to 21 early in the second half and were never seriously threatened after that.
The Rebels (18-5, 7-3) cut it to 15 at 71-56, but the Tigers responded with back-to-back baskets by Pressey and Earnest Ross to push it back to 20.
Marshall Henderson and Jarvis Summers led the Rebels with 16 points apiece.
NOTES: The win kept Missouri perfect at home -- 13-0 overall and 6-0 in SEC play. ... Pressey broke the school record for assists after getting four Saturday. He has 499 for his career. The old mark was 497 by Anthony Peeler from 1988-92. ... Murphy Holloway scored 22 points and had eight rebounds in the win over Missouri in Oxford, but he managed just seven points and one rebound Saturday.