Ole Miss men’s basketball falls on the road at LSU, 89-80
BATON ROUGE — The No. 22-ranked Ole Miss Rebels (15-2, 2-2 SEC) struggled to shoot in the second half as they dropped their second straight SEC road game, falling to the LSU Tigers, 89-80, Wednesday night.
Back on the road again on Saturday pic.twitter.com/EKqg9YjYg3
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) January 18, 2024
First Half
The Rebels kicked off the road rivalry game against the Tigers in an unusual way, turning the ball over on their first three possessions. Ole Miss averaged just over 10 turnovers per game coming in, 4th lowest in the SEC.
Both squads struggled early on the offensive end, not scoring a bucket for two straight minutes. Jaylen “JuJu” Murray hit a three to get things going. LSU answered with one of its own. Murray scored the Rebels’ first 9 points, giving Ole Miss a 9-3 lead at the first break five minutes in.
Hustle play from @Jaammaarion leads to an easy @JSMurray10 bucket… Juju is cookin’ early: he’s got all 9️⃣ of our points 😤#HottyToddy | #BuildTheCulture pic.twitter.com/gzLNSSACic
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) January 18, 2024
LSU stayed within single digits leading into the 10-minute mark, narrowing the lead down to two points at times. The Rebels continued to shoot well from the field, shying away from the deep ball outside of Murray and Matthew Murrell, and they led 24-17 with 9-and-half left in the half.
Matt knocks down a trey to pass Stefan Moody for sole possession of 7th on the All-Time list for career three-pointers made@matt_murre11 | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/p1VN3IzTus
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) January 18, 2024
The Tigers went on a 7-0 run to tie it up at 24 for the first time since it was 3-3 early in the half. Ole Miss missed a few opportunities to stop the run; however, LSU began to find more open looks.
With just over five minutes to go, the Rebels regained a two-point lead after a Murrell fadeaway to make it 27-25. Both teams were playing aggressive defensively, while starting to struggle on offense.
LSU eventually took its first lead late in the half; however, Murrell changed that immediately with the fourth bucket of the night. Allen Flanigan also began to get involved offensively, getting the Rebels fired up with a slam.
Showtime 🤩@Allen_Flanigan2 | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/ay5L1Jjdlf
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) January 18, 2024
With multiple late lead changes in the first half, the Tigers hung around and regained the lead in the last minute to take a 35-33 lead into the break. Both squads were playing relatively sloppy offensively with 18 combined turnovers.
JuJu Murray led the way with 13 points for the Rebels. Flanigan was off to a slow start on offense, although he added 5 boards to his 6 points at the half.
JUJU 🥶@JSMurray10 | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/GL38DJrJfA
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) January 18, 2024
Second half
As the second half began, the Tigers picked up where they left off offensively. LSU went on a 12-6 run in the first 4-and-half minutes of the half as guard Jordan Wright was unguardable with 19 points as he also caused problems defensively.
Trailing 49-41, the Rebels seemed to be forcing shots often, going about two minutes without a bucket until TJ Caldwell hit his first bucket of the game.
Just past the halfway mark in the half, the Rebels were one for their last 11 from the field. Ole Miss did not hit a jump shot for 4 minutes, shooting 4-for-18 in the second half as they trailed the Tigers 64-48.
Trailing by 14, Ole Miss went on an 11-2 run to make it a game in Baton Rouge. Jaemyn Brakefield, Murrell and Flanigan knocked down five free throws during that stretch, helping Ole Miss narrow the Tiger lead to six as the clock ticked down.
FEARLESS 😤
Need more of this down the stretch ⤵️@jsmurray10 | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/T3ir8LxGs3
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) January 18, 2024
The Rebels went on a 10-0 run for over 3 minutes, coming within five of LSU with just under two minutes left to play. Unfortunately, the Tigers ended their drought, nailing a deep ball to extend their lead to eight.
LSU began to pull away after that dagger, as all Ole Miss could do was foul and hope for misses.
JuJu Murray led the scoring for Ole Miss with 23, knocking down four 3-pointers. Murrell, Flanigan and Brakefield were also double digit scorers for the Rebels.
Up Next
The Rebels will be back on the road again Saturday, January 20th against the no. 13 ranked Auburn Tigers. Tipoff is set for 7:30 CT on the SEC Network.
Kameron Wicker
Kam is a senior at Ole Miss, currently pursuing a degree in Journalism. Even though he's from Delhi, Louisiana, that didn't stop Kam from growing up a diehard Ole Miss fan. He's a sports guru who watches and follows all sports at all times. He lettered four years in football and baseball in high school and is an avid Saints, Pelicans, and Astros fan. In his free time, you can find him watching sports or at the rec participating in them.
