Short-handed Ole Miss falls to La. Tech in NIT

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Tupelo
·2 min read

Mar. 20—FRISCO, Texas — Down two starters Ole Miss needed its others to pick up the slack.

That didn't happen.

Louisiana Tech freshman Kenneth Lofton Jr. outplayed Ole Miss graduate transfer Romello White, and the Bulldogs ended the Rebels' season winning 70-61 in an NIT first-round game at the Comerica Center.

A week ago the Rebels lost 76-73 to LSU in an SEC Tournament quarterfinal in what was widely considered an NCAA Tournament play-in game for Ole Miss.

In the NIT the Rebels were without junior forward KJ Buffen who entered the transfer portal and leading scorer Devontae Shuler who was away with his mother during and after surgery.

Lofton, 6-foot-7, 275 pounds, caught the ball in advantage position with the help of his teammates and also beat White and others off the dribble with his quickness.

"Romello's had a great year, but he got position on him. (Lofton) always goes to his left hand, and we couldn't get him away from his left hand," Davis said. "They spread us out and did a good job of post entry. We were supposed to get to some double teams, but he started catching it deep in the middle. We emphasized for two days guarding him early but didn't do a good job of it."

Lofton went into the game averaging 11.0 points and scored a season-high 22 on 8-for-14 shooting. He added seven rebounds and an assist.

White had his second-worst shooting game at Ole Miss hitting just two of eight field goal attempts. He finished with eight points and four rebounds.

White missed all five of his shots in the first half, but the Rebels erased an early deficit when guards Jarkel Joiner and Luis Rodriguez got hot in a smaller lineup.

Ole Miss led 37-27 at halftime, but Tech (22-7) chipped away. The game was tied at 41 with 12 minutes, 56 seconds left, and a Lofton free throw at the 11:28 mark gave the Bulldogs the lead for good.

While the Rebels struggled to guard Lofton in the post they also gave away possessions with 21 turnovers.

Short-handed, Davis mixed in nine players working to find a combination that might spark the Rebels (16-12).

Reserve forward Antavion Collum played in only his eighth game of the season and had a 3-pointer in the first half.

Walk-on John McBride also got in the game.

Joiner led the Rebels with 22 points, and Rodriguez had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

"I thought they tried hard. We prepared really well and had great attention," Davis said. "We were a little disjointed. You could see it in the first 10 minutes of the game."