No. 21 Ole Miss Men’s Basketball Earns Milestone Road Win Over No. 4 Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – (Release) The No. 21 Ole Miss Rebels (15-2, 4-0 SEC) remain unbeaten in SEC play after taking down No. 4 Alabama (14-3, 3-1 SEC) 74-64 on Tuesday night in Tuscaloosa at Coleman Coliseum. Malik Dia tallied the first double-double of his Ole Miss career with 23 points and a career-high 19 rebounds.

You do not need to load this in 4K to see that the REBS WIN‼️

Ole Miss takes down No. 4 Alabama on the road to improve to 4-0 in SEC play!#HottyToddy x #Culture pic.twitter.com/ytZnt3Jg74

— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) January 15, 2025

The Ole Miss defense was disruptive early on as they forced seven Alabama turnovers in the first 4:42 of action.

Dia continued his hot shooting in the first 20 for the Rebels, leading the way with 12 points on 6-of-11 shooting. He also hauled in six first half boards marking his 13th game this season with five or more rebounds.

The Crimson Tide found their footing offensively down the stretch shooting 50.0 percent, including 10-of-13 from the free throw line. Aden Holloway led the Tide with nine points while Mark Sears dished out four first-half helpers.

The Rebels attacked the paint scoring 20 points in the trenches and grabbed six offensive rebounds, generating seven second chance points. Ole Miss would go on to force 11 Alabama turnovers as the Crimson Tide took a 36-32 lead into the break.

🥶@malikkdia 🤝 @DAndreDavis pic.twitter.com/N8CrCdWp9Q

— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) January 15, 2025

The second half began much like the first as the Rebels forced seven more Tide turnovers over the first 7:50 of action. Ole Miss connected on 6-of-12 to start the second half, taking a 46-42, lead to the under 12 media timeout.

Jaylen Murray found Sean Pedulla for a huge three-pointer at the 11:26 mark to stretch their lead to five. Dia would add his eighth bucket of the night to push the lead to 51-45 for the Rebels with just under 10 minutes left.

Sean Pedulla from threeeeee 👌🔥@PedullaSean x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/BWEFTZdxR4

— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) January 15, 2025

A Matthew Murrell triple from Murray gave Ole Miss a ten-point cushion with nine minutes remaining in regulation. Alabama would get a jolt from Coleman Coliseum after a pair of free throws from Grant Nelson and a transition flush from Jarin Stevenson off an Ole Miss turnover.

The Tide cut the deficit to six as play reached the under eight media, but Dia would continue his monster game grabbing his 17th rebound of the night and converting a second chance bucket to push the Ole Miss lead back to 10 with 4:31 to play.

Murray would find Dia for a flush off a duck-in pass with 3:15 remaining, pushing the lead to nine. Pedulla followed with a massive triple, giving the Rebels a 12-point lead with two and a half to play.

Jaemyn Brakefield calmly connected on 6-of-6 attempts from the charity stripe over the final minute and Jaylen Murray added the final two from the line for Ole Miss, giving the Rebels a 74-64 lead with 18 ticks left on the clock.

Ole Miss’s defense was outstanding all night, holding the Crimson Tide to a season-low 28 second half points. The 14 steals marked a season-high forced by the Rebels and the 21 Alabama turnovers were a season-high for the Crimson Tide. Entering the game as the No. 1 offense in the country, the Rebels held Alabama to their lowest point-total of the season.

Five Rebels scored in double-figures for the second consecutive game led by Malik Dia with 23 points and 19 rebounds. Jaylen Murray would add five assists to lead the team in passing, marking his ninth game this season with five or more helpers.

MALIK DIA 😤😤😤@malikkdia x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/wpuHoKtDT3

— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) January 15, 2025

Ole Miss will stay on the road and return to action this Saturday as the Rebels take on in-state rival No. 15 Mississippi State (14-3, 2-2 SEC). Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. CT in Starkville on ESPN2.

NOTABLES

• Malik Dia led all scorers with 23 points and a career-high 19 rebounds, and a career-high 11 field goals. The last Ole Miss player to have 20 pts. and 15 rebs. was Sebastian Saiz vs. South Carolina on March 4, 2017.
• Dia has led Ole Miss in scoring in three straight contests and is averaging 21 points and 11.3 rebounds over his last three games.
• The Ole Miss defense held Alabama to a season-low 64 points on the season. The Crimson Tide entered tonight’s matchup as the No. 1 scoring offense in the nation.
• The Rebels tied a season-high with 14 steals. Ole Miss forced 21 Alabama turnovers, marking their most in a game this season.
• Ole Miss kept Alabama to just four offensive rebounds. The Tide entered this game ranked eighth in the NCAA in offensive boards per game at just over 15.
• The win marks the first top-five road win for the Rebels in program history.
• The last top five win for Ole Miss came against No. 4 Auburn on Jan. 22, 2000. The Rebels defeated the Tigers 79-78 in overtime in Oxford.
• Ole Miss is now just one of two teams left unbeaten in conference play, and begins their conference slate 4-0 for the first time since 2012-13.