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Ole Miss shocks No. 4 Tennessee, 78-76, behind Brakefield’s second half performance

Posted by | Mar 6, 2025 |

Ole Miss shocks No. 4 Tennessee, 78-76, behind Brakefield’s second half performance

OXFORD, Miss. – On senior night in the Sandy and John Black Pavilion, the Ole Miss Rebels rallied late behind Jaemyn Brakefield, defeating the No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers 78-76.

The Rebels have now reached 10 SEC wins for the first time since the 2020-2021 season, advancing to 21-9 this season and 10-7 in conference play.

First half

The Volunteers won the opening tip, but it was Ole Miss striking first with a bucket from Jaylen ‘Juju’ Murray to start the night. Two minutes into play, Chaz Lanier gave Tennessee its first lead of the night, but Sean Pedulla drained the first triple of the game to give the Rebels a 5-4 lead.

Both defenses then began to make it difficult for the opposing offenses, contesting shots at a high rate. Lanier scored the next five points for the Volunteers and Matthew Murrell gave the Rebels another lead with a triple right out of a timeout.

However, Darlinstone Dubar quickly gave Tennessee the lead right back with a triple of his own and free throws for the Volunteers gave them a 14-10 lead six minutes into play. After the Murrell triple, Tennessee outscored Ole Miss 10-2 over the next two minutes.

Trailing 21-14, Murray drained another three for the Rebels and was fouled on the shot. The Ole Miss guard could not complete the four-point play as he missed at the line but the Volunteer lead was cut to four.

The intensity of the game picked up over the next four minutes with baskets becoming scarce. With six minutes left in the half, Lanier nailed his second triple of the night to give the Volunteers a 29-20 lead. The Rebels answered with a 9-0 run over the next two minutes of play, tying the game at 29 after Dre Davis drained his first three-pointer of the night.

After Tennessee took a one-point lead at the free throw line, Mikeal Brown-Jones answered with a drive to the rim, getting fouled and making both at the charity stripe to give the Rebels their first lead since five minutes into the half.

However, Dubar got to the line on the next possession to give the Volunteers the lead right back and a triple from Jordan Gainey made it a 35-31 deficit for the Rebels with just over three minutes left in the half.

The Rebels went two minutes without a field goal until Brown-Jones ended that drought with his first bucket from the field. The senior fought through contact, getting a tough bucket to fall and then completing the three-point play at the free throw line.

Although Malik Dia would get another shot to fall for Ole Miss, it was Lanier and Mashack hitting back-to-back triples to end the half and give the Volunteers a 41-36 lead at the break.

Dia led the way for Ole Miss with 12 points while Murrell added another eight points of his own. Zekai Ziegler had only one shot attempt in the first half, but the Tennessee guard tallied nine of the 13 assists for the Volunteers at the breaks. Lanier led Tennessee with 13 points.

The Rebels were surprisingly winning the paint battle at the half which seemed to keep them within reach of the Volunteers. However, the defensive rotations hurt Ole Miss, resulting in many open looks in the corners for Tennessee.

Second half

The Volunteers scored the first three points of the half, but the next four minutes was all Ole Miss. The Rebels went on an 8-0 run with everyone getting involved, tying the game at 44. Tennessee began the second half shooting just 2-for-8 from the field.

Answering the Ole Miss run, Tennessee went on a 7-2 run over the next two minutes as Gainey drained a triple to give the Volunteers a 51-46 lead. The bucket by Gainey was the first field goal to fall for Tennessee since two minutes into the half.

Midway through the second half, Felix Okpara slammed home a pair a dunks for the Volunteers to give them the largest lead of the half, 56-49. However, the next four minutes belonged to Jaemyn Brakefield.

After not scoring at all in the first half, Brakefield scored 19 of the remaining 29 points for the Rebels to end the game. It started at the 10-minute mark in the half as the senior scored seven-straight points before the Volunteers could answer.

Okpara scored during the Brakefield run, but it was Murray giving the Pavilion crowd a reason to get even louder as he tied the game at 58 with over eight minutes remaining in regulation.

Zeigler then gave Tennessee another lead with his first, and only, triple of the night. However, it was Brakefield giving it right back to the Volunteer defense with five more points to give Ole Miss a 63-61 lead.

No one could keep a lead in this SEC battle, as the game saw 12 different lead changes. After the Brakefield onslaught, Gainey scored the next five points for Tennessee which the Rebels failed to answer. It was a three-point deficit for Ole Miss with five minutes left in the game.

A bucket and a foul allowed Brakefield to tie things back up at 66, and it was Davis scoring six of the next eight points for Ole Miss.

Davis gave the Rebels their largest lead of the night, 74-70, with two minutes left on the clock. The senior finished with a double-double, adding 13 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

Once again Okpara cut into the Ole Miss lead, but Brakefield went right back into the teeth of the defense to extend the lead back to four with under a minute left to play. However, Igor Milicic Jr. drained his second three of the night and was fouled hard by Davis on the attempt.

Davis fouled out of the game and Milicic knocked down the free throw to tie it up once again for Tennessee.

The Rebels advanced the ball up the court after the Volunteers tied it up, and head coach Chris Beard called a timeout with 26 seconds remaining to talk things over. However, there was no mystery of who was going to play hero on this possession. Of course, it was Brakefield grabbing an offensive board after a miss from Pedulla and getting the second-chance bucket to fall with seven seconds left on the clock.

Tennessee would call a timeout with three seconds remaining after advancing the ball to the front court, but Milicic could not get the layup to fall and Ole Miss picked up its second top five win of the season.

Brakefield led the Rebels in scoring with 19 points, scoring all of those in the second half. Davis ended with the double-double while Dia and Murrell combined for another 25 points for Ole Miss.

The Rebels outscored the Volunteers in the paint 46-20, also out rebounding them 37-33. Ole Miss struggled on the offensive glass most of the season, whether it was not grabbing enough of them or allowing too many. In the win over the No. 4 team in the country, the Rebels grabbed 15 offensive boards.

Up next

The Rebels will end the regular season on the road when they head to Gainesville on Saturday to take on the No. 5 team in the country, the Florida Gators. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. CT and will be televised on the SEC Network.
Kameron Wicker

Kam is a senior at Ole Miss, currently pursuing a degree in Journalism. Even though he's from Delhi, Louisiana, that didn't stop Kam from growing up a diehard Ole Miss fan. He's a sports guru who watches and follows all sports at all times. He lettered four years in football and baseball in high school and is an avid Saints, Pelicans, and Astros fan. In his free time, you can find him watching sports or at the rec participating in them.

About The Author

Kameron Wicker

Kam is a senior at Ole Miss, currently pursuing a degree in Journalism. Even though he's from Delhi, Louisiana, that didn't stop Kam from growing up a diehard Ole Miss fan. He's a sports guru who watches and follows all sports at all times. He lettered four years in football and baseball in high school and is an avid Saints, Pelicans, and Astros fan. In his free time, you can find him watching sports or at the rec participating in them.

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