Ole Miss Men’s Basketball Falls at Memphis Saturday
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – (Release) Ole Miss (11-2) dropped its final non-conference game of the season against Memphis 87-70 on Saturday afternoon at the FedEx Forum.
Memphis came out of the gates hot leading by as many as 13 in the first half. Two Tigers scored in double-figures as Colby Rogers led all scorers with 13 points in the first period.
Eduardo Klafke provided a spark off the bench, knocking down a three-pointer at the 12:02 mark cutting the deficit to seven.
Klafke continued to provide good minutes as he found Jaylen Murray for three at the 6:59 mark as momentum began to churn in the Rebels direction. Ole Miss would then force three consecutive turnovers, going on a 7-0 run over 1:34 to cut the lead to 27-21 with 5:21 left in the first half.
The pace of play would drastically quicken, as the Rebels connected on their next five field goal attempts. Ole Miss cut the deficit to four with 2:34 remaining, before trailing by just two at the break, 38-36.
The Tigers controlled the tempo in the second half as they stretched their lead back to nine after the under 16 media timeout.
Ole Miss couldn’t find the long ball offensively shooting just 2-of-16 from deep in the second half, but the Rebels weathered the storm, cutting the deficit to single digits after a Matthew Murrell dunk off a turnover with five minutes remaining.
Memphis’ Colby Rogers would answer with a three to stretch the lead back to 12. Rogers led all scorers with 28 points, knocking down six triples.
Sean Pedulla led Ole Miss with 13 points and four assists. Mikeal Brown-Jones had a season-high six rebounds with Malik Dia also hauling in six boards.
Ole Miss will return home next Saturday to open SEC play against the Georgia Bulldogs (11-1). Tipoff is set for 11 a.m. CT on SEC Network+.
Notables
- Sean Pedulla led Ole Miss with 13 points and four assists. It marked his ninth game scoring in double-figures and his sixth leading the team in scoring.
- Mikeal Brown-Jones and Malik Dia each grabbed six rebounds to lead Ole Miss on the glass.
- Three Rebels scored in double-figures: Pedulla (13), Jaylen Murray (12) and Malik Dia (11).
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn's love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
