No. 16 Ole Miss Men’s Basketball Drops Heartbreaker Against No. 13 Texas A&M
OXFORD, Miss. – (Release) The No. 16 Ole Miss men’s basketball team (15-4, 4-2 SEC) fell in a tough one against No. 13 Texas A&M (15-4, 5-3 SEC) 63-62, Wednesday night at the SJB Pavilion. Manny Obaseki hit a three with 13 seconds left to give the Aggies their first lead of the game, ultimately sealing the game for the visitors.
Ole Miss was led by seven first half triples, giving them a seven-point advantage heading into the half. Ole Miss would stretch the lead to eight at the 12:04 mark after back-to-back threes from Jaylen Murray and Sean Pedulla.
Ole Miss extended the lead to 11 on four separate occasions across the first 20 minutes of action, but the Aggies were able to respond cutting the deficit back to single digits. Texas A&M would trim the Rebel lead to five with 1:31 to play in the half after a Jace Carter three making it 31-26.
Pedulla would convert the final bucket of the period for the Rebels, giving Ole Miss a 33-26 lead heading into the break. Murray led Ole Miss with nine first half points as Ole Miss held Texas A&M to under 30 points for just the fifth time in a first half this season.
Ole Miss would extend their lead to double digits again coming out of the half at the 17:32 mark, taking a 39-28 lead after a Malik Dia bucket.
The Aggies would fight back holding Ole Miss scoreless over 2:38 of play, cutting the deficit to just one with 11:05 left. The Rebels would continue to stretch the lead, but Texas A&M had an answer for every Rebel run.
The Rebels hit the road this weekend for a matchup at No. 22 Missouri (15-4, 4-2 SEC). Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
NOTABLES
- Sean Pedulla led all scorers with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting. It marks his 14th game in double-figures and his seventh leading the team in points.
- Jaemyn Brakefield pulled down eight rebounds to lead Ole Miss on the glass.
- Jaylen Murray notched his 10th game this season with 5+ assists, dishing out six helpers to lead the team in passing.
- The Rebels forced 20+ turnovers for the fifth time this season. Ole Miss entered tonight’s game 17th in the NCAA and 1st in the SEC averaging 15.9 forced turnovers per game.
- The fans showed out for the team, setting a new record for student attendance with an overall attendance of 10,008, the second-most in program history.
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.
