Gamer: Ole Miss men’s basketball falls to South Carolina, 72-59

OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss moves to 19-8, 6-8 SEC after being defeated handily by South Carolina this afternoon, 72-59, at the SJB Pavilion.

Here is what happened in the game.

First Half:

Moussa Cisse started the game off hot for the Rebs, scoring the first four to give Ole Miss an early 4-0 lead with 18:26 on the clock. South Carolina responded accordingly, scoring the next six. Entering the first media timeout of the game with 15:51 remaining in the half, South Carolina led Ole Miss 8-4. The Rebs struggled to find productive offense, going the last three minutes without a basket.

As the half continued, Ole Miss went through another scoring drought, which was broken at 11:45 on the clock via an Allen Flanigan layup. Thirty seconds later, the game’s second media timeout took place with Ole Miss trailing 13-8. South Carolina already had six fouls, three of which came from Collin Murray-Boyles, an elite freshman on the Gamecock squad.

Seconds after the media timeout, Ole Miss entered the bonus with TJ Caldwell at the line, making two of two. The score was 13-10, Gamecocks, with 11:11 remaining.

Over the next three minutes, both teams started making shots, including an impressive midrange shot from Flanigan. Leading 17-13, South Carolina called a 30-second timeout with 8:50 to go before intermission.

Despite more offensive production for the Rebs, the Gamecocks mirrored their points. With a media timeout called at the 6:30 mark, Carolina led by four, 23-19. Then, Jaemyn Brakefield, who scored Ole Miss’ 17th point, also picked up his 1,000th career point on the same play.

Moving ahead, South Carolina’s offense proved to be more and more potent as the Gamecocks went on another 4-0 run to extend their lead to 10 with 3:56 to go.

Ole Miss’ defensive struggles only got worse to end the half, as Carolina went to the locker room leading 36-22. Ole Miss had not made a three-point shot yet in the game. Flanigan was the leading scorer in the first half with eight.

Second Half:

The Rebels started the second half by cutting the Gamecocks’ lead to 11, but the offense and inside game of Carolina continued to be a problem for Ole Miss. Allen Flanigan was also ejected from the game with 16:53 left due to a flagrant two-call.

With 15:42 remaining in the game, Matt Murrell cut Carolina’s lead to 12 after making two free throws. Unfortunately, the defensive problems continued for Ole Miss, and South Carolina jumped back into the driver’s seat to make it a 16-point game two minutes after Flanigan’s ejection. But Brakefield nailed Ole Miss’ first three-point shot of the game at 11:19 to make it 50-39, Carolina.

Heading into the next media timeout with 7:44 left to play, the Gamecocks pushed their lead back to 14, winning 57-43. Coach Beard called a timeout a couple of minutes later, due to the fact that Carolina had moved it to a 15-point game, taking its second-largest lead of the game. Ole Miss’ offensive struggles have been a massive problem in this one.

To conclude the game, not much changed for either squad, resulting in a 72-59 win for South Carolina. Ole Miss shot 33 percent from the field, and 19 percent from three, while Carolina shot 44 percent from the field, and 47 from beyond the arch.

The Rebels were out-rebounded, 44 to 34, while having seven fewer assists. In terms of March Madness, the path just became even more difficult for Ole Miss with their eighth conference loss.

Up Next 

Ole Miss will host Alabama on Wednesday in the Pavilion at 8 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN2. Hotty Toddy!