Ole Miss Defeats A&M, 61-50, to Win Second Straight SEC Game

OXFORD, Miss. — The Ole Miss Rebels Men’s Basketball Team hosted the Texas A&M Aggies at The Pavilion this afternoon and secured their second straight win, 61-50, in style as they wore their white throwback jerseys.

The Rebels were coming off an impressive win in Starkville where they held Mississippi State to just 46 points.

The defense certainly carried over from Tuesday night’s win as the Rebels were able to hold Texas A&M to a 39% field goal percentage and forced 18 Aggie turnovers while picking up their second straight SEC win.

It was also the 12th game in which the Ole Miss defense forced at least 15 turnovers. 

With the win, the Rebels improve to 8-6 (3-4 SEC) on the season and drop the Aggies to 7-6 (2-5 SEC). Both squads desperately needed this conference win.

(Click here for the Box Score)

In the first half, Ole Miss was able to hold Texas A&M scoreless for about the first  five minutes of the game before the Aggies nailed two free throws to break the ice. 

The Rebels shot just under 50% from the field, almost 40% from the three point line, and 54% from the free throw line in the first half.

Even though Ole Miss shot just over 50% from the free throw line, the Rebs showed aggression early by getting to the line 11 times compared to the Aggies only getting three first half free throws. It would prove to be a trend throughout the game as head coach Kermit Davis’ team got to the line 29 times, their second most attempts this season.

Texas A&M only had eight free throw attempts for the game. 

Despite the cold start for the Aggies, they made it a competitive half and managed to trail the Rebels by just three points at the half. 

In the second half, Ole Miss once again held A&M scoreless for about the first five minutes, going on a 15-0 run to start the second half.

Coach Davis was asked to what he attributed the strong second-half start for his team:

Coach Kermit Davis on the 15-0 run

Davis also added he believes this game was the best his team has performed with his signature 1-3-1 defense. 

The Rebels followed the lead of (senior) Devontae Shuler and (junior)Jarkel Joiner. Both guards played over 30 minutes and combined for 38 points. Joiner had his second-most points of the season, scoring 21 points, and Shuler scored 17 points for the fourth straight game in a row.

Kermit continues to emphasize that Jarkel is always first in and last out of the gym to practice.

Coach Davis

The Aggies slowly started to make a little bit of noise, but ultimately Ole Miss was successfully able to close out the game and get the much-needed win.

The total team performance was also good enough to get every single active player minutes this afternoon.  

 Up Next:

Ole Miss travels to play the Arkansas Razorbacks on Wednesday at 7:30 CT. The game will be televised on the SEC Network. 

(Videos and feature image courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics)