Memphis basketball falters late, loses at Ole Miss. Here are 5 takeaways from the game

OXFORD, Miss. — Jaylen Murray's layup with 18 seconds gave Ole Miss what it needed to beat Memphis baskeball Saturday.

Murray finished with 22 points to push the Rebels (7-0) past the Tigers (5-2) 80-77 in front of a sold-out crowd at The Pavilion.

David Jones matched Murray with 22 points of his own. But a cold-shooting day at the 3-point line, where Memphis finished 3 for 18 doomed Penny Hardaway's team.

Jahvon Quinerly's 3-pointer with 2 seconds left hit only the backboard.

Memphis' Jaykwon Walton left the game with 12:40 remaining after catching an elbow to the back of the head from former Tiger Moussa Cisse, who was playing in his first game for Ole Miss after being rule eligible by the NCAA earlier this week.

The Tigers are back in action at VCU on Wednesday (6 p.m.).

Here are five takeaways from the game.

David Jones and points in the paint

Jones lived up to his billing once again. Saturday marked the third time this season he has scored 22 points or more in a game. He put up 36 against Arkansas last week, his career-best.

While Jones had a rough performance at the 3-point line (2 for 8), he made up for it elsewhere. The St. John’s transfer was 7-of-9 inside the arc, 2 for 3 at the free-throw line and had seven rebounds.

But, somewhat surprisingly, Jones did not attempt a field goal over the final 5:49 of the game. He also scored just six points in the second half.

The Tigers also found success in an unexpected place Saturday, outscoring Ole Miss 50-30 in the paint. The Rebels were playing with their 7-foot twin towers (Jamarion Sharp and Moussa Cisse) together for the first time this season. But it didn’t stop Memphis from having success down low.

Malcolm Dandridge spoils Moussa Cisse’s Ole Miss debut

Malcolm Dandridge and Moussa Cisse were teammates once upon a time at Memphis, both big men during the 2020-21 season.

What Dandridge did to Cisse, however, was no way to treat a friend.

Dandridge blocked what would have been Cisse’s first bucket in an Ole Miss uniform in the first half. Then, later in the first half, Dandridge put the former AAC Freshman of the Year and former Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year on a poster.

With 1:44 left in the first half and Memphis nursing a four-point lead, Dandridge took the feed from Caleb Mills, spun around Cisse and broke for the basket. Cisse’s best effort to catch up was not enough, and Dandridge slammed the ball through the hoop with authority.

Dandridge wound up with 13 points.

How Ole Miss stayed in the game?

Simple: The Rebels were on the right side of a 3-point shooting discrepancy.

Ole Miss burned up the basket, especially early, from downtown. The Rebels hit 11 3-pointers – one more than it has in a game this season.

Meanwhile, the Tigers connected on just three shots from beyond the arc.

Jordan Brown’s early exit

The Tigers had to veer away from the script earlier than they likely anticipated.

Not even 90 seconds after the opening tip-off, starting center Jordan Brown got hit with two fouls in rapid succession, and went straight to the bench for the rest of the first half.

Not an ideal way to get things going for a team looking to both rebound the ball better than it had been and get Brown out of the funk he was mired in for most of last week’s Battle 4 Atlantis.

Despite Brown’s absence, though, Memphis made do. The week off was spent working on rebounding, Hardaway said Thursday, and it showed. In the first half, the Tigers out-boarded Ole Miss 23-17 overall and 8-3 on the offensive glass.

Memphis finished with a 42-39 advantage on the boards.

Sneaky big run

Ole Miss flew out of the gate, rattling off a 7-0 run to start the game.

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Then, it was the Tigers’ turn. Memphis quietly blistered the net on its way to a 19-2 run over a span of about five minutes.

Jahvon Quinerly sparked the spurt with an easy layup, but Jones breathed real life into it. The Tigers’ leading scorer put up 7 points in a 45-second span, going 3 for 3 in the process.

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball falters late in loss at Ole Miss