With Matt Murrell out due to illness, Ole Miss falls to Georgia in Athens

Ole Miss fell to Georgia on the road in Athens, 69-66, Tuesday night after making a late 9-0 run that got the Rebels close. Unfortunately, the clock ran out on an Ole Miss team that was without Matthew Murrell for almost the entire game due to illness.

First Half 

Ole Miss fell behind early, trailing Georgia 8-4 with 14:43 left to play in the first half. The road Rebs had been out-rebounded 7–4 up to this point, but there was one bright spot: Moussa Cisse. The big man had one block, one rebound, and all four points at that point in the contest.

Ole Miss’ offensive struggles continued, as the team did not find the basket in over four-and-a-half minutes. Fortunately, the Bulldogs were in a very similar position, as the game was only 11-6 after Allen Flanigan ended the Rebel scoring drought with a layup. Heading into a media timeout at 11:58, both teams had given up four turnovers, and the score remained 11-6.

Coming out of the timeout, Georgia sank a three-point shot, but Ole Miss responded by drawing a foul call, resulting in a technical foul from Georgia head coach Mike White. Flanigan made two free throws to put the Rebs within five, trailing 14-9.

Nearly five minutes later, Ole Miss started chopping away at the Georgia lead, making the score 20-17, Bulldogs. It is worth pointing out that Matt Murrell had played only two minutes in the game before he left with an illness. Flanigan led the Rebs with five points.

With 2:07 left on the clock in the opening half, Ole Miss still trailed 31-25. The Bulldogs established themselves in the paint, putting up eight offensive rebounds and 10 defensive. Fortunately for the Rebs, their six steals allowed the offense to continue to compete and stay in the game.

To conclude the half, it was Jaemyn Brakefield who got hot, scoring his 12th point at the buzzer to cut into Georgia’s lead, 35-32. The Rebs had forced nine turnovers as opposed to their six, but were still getting out-rebounded 19-11. Without Murrell, the Rebs were only shooting 2-11 from beyond the arc.

One possession game at the half. pic.twitter.com/jAnrUBIKUx

— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) March 6, 2024

Second Half 

Brakefield hit another three-point shot to start the second half, followed by a layup from Brandon Murray to give the Rebs their first lead of the night, 37-35. Just over five minutes into the half, Georgia and Ole Miss had exchanged a series of turnovers, but the Rebs were hanging on to their one-point lead, leading 41-40.

Under 16, 2nd Half:

Rebs up by 1. @Jaemyn1 has 15 points 💪 pic.twitter.com/XPVKdPd8lv

— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) March 6, 2024

Georgia made a couple of shots of its own and retook a 45-41 lead with 11:51 left to play. The Rebs had not found a basket in almost four minutes, as scoring droughts have continued to be a problem for Chris Beard’s offense.

Georgia expanded its lead over the next segment of the game, moving ahead 55-47. Entering a Coach Beard timeout with 4:17 to be played, Ole Miss was chasing the Bulldogs 61-54, struggling to get any sort of momentum. The Rebs were going to need to find some sort of spark to have a shot at this game.

With 1:43 left to go, Jaemyn Brakefield offered that spark and scored two dunks in a row to make it a seven-point game. The Rebs had another huge momentum builder after getting a flagrant one called against Georgia with 52.3 seconds on the clock.

Flanigan made two free throws, and JuJu Murray nailed a three-point shot to make it a 65-63 ballgame. But even after a hard-fought comeback, the Bulldogs hit one more layup to go up four and prevent the Rebs from tying up the game.

Georgia walked away with a 69-66 win, handing Ole Miss its 10th conference loss and likely removing their chances of competing in March Madness. JuJu Murray and Brakefield led Ole Miss with 19 points each, as the team shot 39 percent from the field and 27 percent from beyond the arch.

What’s Next?

Ole Miss plays its final game of the regular season on Saturday, March 9, hosting Texas A&M for a big-time game on CBS at 1 p.m. in the SJB Pavilion.