Mississippi State, sparked by D.J. Jeffries, wins rematch against Ole Miss
Jan. 22—STARKVILLE — Pom-poms filled the Humphrey Coliseum air as fans, accustomed to clanging cowbells with the same motion, urged for Mississippi State to go on a run against its in-state rival.
Garrison Brooks was hitting mid-range jumpers and asserting himself early — something head coach Ben Howland pushed for after Brooks attempted just three field goals in Wednesday's loss at Florida.
Iverson Molinar was slashing through the Ole Miss defense and finding his way to the rim en route to another 20-point performance, putting him above the 1,000-point threshold in his career.
Shakeel Moore was hitting 3-pointers. When he missed, he was swarming Ole Miss' forward looking to force a jumpball.
For all Mississippi State was doing to please its fans, Ole Miss did enough to quiet the home crowd.
State kept in front much of the afternoon, but it felt as though "The Run" was loading.
Turns out, MSU was just waiting on D.J. Jeffries to heat up en route to a 78-60 win against Ole Miss.
"A couple of his baskets that he made is when we started to break the game open," head coach Ben Howland said postgame. "...I thought D.J. Jeffries really stepped up for us today at both ends of the floor."
Jeffries' turn came with MSU already in the midst of 5-0 run. Mississippi State had itself a few similar runs in the first half but couldn't get into the next gear.
That's when Jeffries took the ball on the fastbreak, sprinted toward the basket, got fouled, hit the layup and then screamed and flexed in front of an MSU student section which was filled an hour before tipoff.
Jeffries hit the free throw before making another layup less than a minute later. Add another five points, and MSU capped off a 15-0 run to pull away with seven minutes to go.
Jeffries, who averaged 10 points per game entering the contest, hadn't scored in double figures in two weeks. In his previous two outings, he combined for nine points.
"It's very important that we get him rolling," MSU guard Shakeel Moore said.
Ole Miss continued to battle MSU's first half runs with efficient shooting — particularly from deep.
The Rebels shot 58 percent from the field and 64 percent on 3-pointers in the first half two weeks ago when the Bulldogs lost in Oxford.
Ole Miss followed that up with a 65-percent shooting performance in the first half Saturday — shooting 4-of-9 from beyond the arc.
State answered with its own 53.6-percent clip from the field in the opening 20 minutes, backed by an unusual 13 attempts from deep despite averaging 18 per game.
But where MSU dominated throughout the afternoon was inside, outscoring Ole Miss 38-28 in the paint.
"We just couldn't keep them out of the paint," Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis said. "Their players were more physical and looked bigger and stronger to the rim than we did."
The win does little to boost an MSU resume currently sitting on the bubble, but it does fend off a potential Quadrant 3 loss.
Mississippi State now enters a stretch of seven games in which it'll likely be favored in just one (vs South Carolina on Feb. 1).
State plays Tuesday at No. 12 Kentucky before going to No. 18 Texas Tech on Jan. 29 for the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
For Ole Miss, it adds another bad twist to an already spiraling season. The Rebels have lost four in a row following their win in the first matchup against the Bulldogs.
Ole Miss returns home to face Florida and Arkansas on Monday and Wednesday, respectively.
STEFAN KRAJISNIK is the Mississippi State athletics reporter for the Daily Journal. Contact him at stefan.krajisnik@djournal.com.
