No. 21 Ole Miss’ Furious Comeback Falls Short as Rebels Drop Overtime Road Battle to No. 15 Mississippi State

Starkville, Miss. – Inside the hostile environment that was Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville on Saturday night, the No. 21 Ole Miss Rebels fell to their in-state rival, the No. 15 Mississippi State Bulldogs in overtime 84-81.

FINAL: Ole Miss 81 , Mississippi State 84

We return home Wednesday to face Texas A&M at the SJB Pavilion. Tip is set for 8 p.m.

— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) January 19, 2025

First half

The Bulldogs won the opening tipoff and were hot right out of the gate, starting the game on an 11-0 run through the first four minutes. Ole Miss was 0-for-4 in that span until Jaylen ‘Juju’ Murray found the bottom of the net with a floater to break the run.

However, Mississippi State continued to bring another level of physicality to the contest, taking away possessions from the Rebels with offensive boards. Around seven minutes into the first half, the Bulldogs found themselves up by 14.

Jaemyn Brakefield then drained the first triple of the night for Ole Miss, an area of the game in which they started just 1-for-9. A steal by Sean Pedulla that the Rebel guard took 90 feet the other way then gave Ole Miss some life as the Bulldog lead was down to 18-9.

With another pair of buckets and a free one at the charity stripe for Murray, the State lead was as small as it had been all half as Ole Miss trailed by seven. However, Claudell Harris Jr. then scored the next five points for the Bulldogs to increase the lead once again.

Late in the first half, both squads were having trouble finding the bottom of the net through two minutes of play. During that span, the Rebels and the Bulldogs combined for four turnovers.

A pair of free throws drained by State’s Riley Kugel and a long two-point basket from Pedulla would then end the drought for both squads in a hurry. However, Keshawn Murphy began to find some rhythm for the Bulldogs as he threw down a ferocious slam over the top of the Ole Miss defense to put State up 33-19 with just under three minutes to play in the half.

A couple more buckets for Pedulla and a triple drained by Dre Davis right before the break put the Rebels in a good spot, down just 37-29. However, it was the battle on the boards that was hurting Ole Miss as the team had given up 11 offensive rebounds to their in-state rivals in the first half of play.

At the break, Mississippi State was outrebounding Ole Miss 25-10 with 11 offensive boards to the Rebels’ one. Pedulla led the Rebels at the break with 11 points, three boards and a pair of steals.

Halftime at the Hump

Sean Pedulla leads us with 11 points. pic.twitter.com/5rHOOZ5TkY

— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) January 19, 2025

Second half

Coming out of the locker room, both squads could not buy a bucket as they traded misses through the first minute-and-a-half. Matthew Murrell then ended the drought, draining his first shot to cut the State lead to six.

Through the first four minutes of the second half, Murrell scored eight points for the Rebels. The senior leader came up with a steal on one in and drained a triple on the other end in a hurry, cutting the Bulldog to 39-38.

HEAT UP, 11🔥@mattmurrell_ x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/F2gXCCbK1g

— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) January 19, 2025

Josh Hubbard then answered with a triple of his own to give the Bulldogs a burst as they found themselves up by multiple possessions, once again, eight minutes into the half. However, it was Malik Dia who then delivered for Ole Miss just as he had all throughout conference play, knocking down back-to-back triples to make it 46-44.

It was Pedulla, again, who kept the Rebels within arm’s reach, draining his first shot of the half to cut the Bulldog lead to just one point once again. But the Mississippi State offense kept pouring it on as it was RJ Melendez this time draining another triple for the Bulldogs.

Eduardo Klafke then got involved in the scoring for the Rebels, knocking down a triple for his first points of the night to make it a five-point Bulldog lead after Kugel again drove to the bucket with ease.

With just under eight minutes left in the second half, Pedulla nailed another triple for the Rebels and Ole Miss trailed 55-53. However, a foul on Mikeal Brown-Jones was reviewed and upgraded to a flagrant, turning into a five-point swing for the Bulldogs courtesy of Shawn Jones Jr.

A quick bucket for Davis and a Juju Murray triple allowed the Rebels to once again come roaring back, down by just one point after a pair of free throws drained by Murrell.

As the time on the clock began to turn against Ole Miss, it was make-or-break for the final minutes of regulation as things began to get chippy. A Brakefield triple was then answered by a Matthews dunk, once again making it a one-possession game. Murphy extended the Mississippi State lead to four, but it was Murray coming right back with a driving layup on the other end for the Rebels.

With under a minute left to play in regulation, Murphy grabbed another offensive board and got the second-chance bucket to fall to give the Bulldogs a convincing four-point lead. Quickly, however, Brakefield sprinted to the other end for a quick layup, and the Rebels fouled Melendez on the inbound with 20 seconds to go.

Melendez made one of the two free ones, giving the Rebels a chance to take the last shot for the tie. Murrell did just that, knocking down one of the biggest shots of his career with nine seconds left to ultimately send this one into overtime.

MATT MURRELL SENDS IT TO OVERTIME IN STARKVILLE‼️@mattmurrell_ x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/gdgP1hcqIn

— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) January 19, 2025

Overtime 

With all the momentum heading into the period of extra basketball, Brakefield gave the Rebels their first lead of the night with a hard slam, but it was Matthews immediately answering on the Bulldogs’ end to tie it back up.

Jammin’@Jaemyn1 x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/5sSqPt31qt

— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) January 19, 2025

Pedulla was then fouled and awarded the one-and-one, hitting just the first of the two free throws and giving Ole Miss another lead.

The missed shots then became frequent as both squads began to rush the offense looking for a swing. After a miss by Hubbard, Murrell was found streaking towards the other end of the court but was chased down and blocked from behind by Melendez in perhaps the biggest moment of the night.

In a hurry, the Bulldogs grabbed the loose ball and kicked it to Kugel who drained his fourth triple of the night to give Mississippi State a two-point lead with a minute-and-a-half left in overtime. Again, the Rebels rushed for a shot on the opposite end, but the Bulldogs gave them another chance after a missed dagger from Kugel.

However, Melendez came down with the offensive board and went back up with it for a second-chance bucket as that looked to be all she wrote in Starkville.

Adding more salt into the wound, an out-of-bounds call was reviewed and reversed, giving the Bulldogs possession with 20 seconds to go. The inbound pass was stolen by Pedulla, but the Rebel guard missed the three-pointer and Ole Miss’ only option was to foul once again.

As if this game did not already have everything, another flagrant was called this time on Mississippi State. Brakefield nailed both free throws but could not force a second overtime as the final shot came up short, giving the Rebels their first conference loss.

Up next

Chris Beard and the Ole Miss Rebels will head back home to Oxford as they take on the No. 11 Texas A&M Aggies in the Pavilion on Wednesday, Jan. 22 at 8 pm CT.