Ole Miss Pulls Away in Second Half For Win in Final Game in Tad Pad

OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss men’s basketball took the court for the last time ever in the Tad Smith Coliseum as they defeated the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners, 82-60, on Friday night.

The starters for Ole Miss were: G AJ Storr, G Ilias Kamardine, G Kezza Giffa, F Malik Dia, and F James Scott.

First Half

The final game at the Tad Pad started out very even. Ole Miss struck first as James Scott had a beautiful put-back tip, but it was answered in seconds as CJ Hardy drilled a three pointer for the Roadrunners, with both teams scoring on their first possession.

The game stayed relatively back and forth until Ole Miss gained the edge and took a five-point lead. The game bounced around from a one to two-score game for a majority of the first 20 minutes of action.

Ole Miss then pulled away late in the half as they went into the break with a 38-28 advantage. Scott led the way in scoring with 8 points for the Rebels and Hardy with 9 points for the Roadrunners.

Here are the first half shooting percentages stood as listed below.

Ole Miss: 43.8% FG, 37.5% 3FG, 70% FT

CSU Bakersfield: 41.7% FG, 16.7% 3-PT, 53.8% FT

Second Half

Out of the break, the Rebels again struck first as Malik Dia had a physical finish at the rim that gave Ole Miss their largest lead of the day to that point at 12.

Throughout the first five minutes of the game, it was remained an even battle as the Rebels sustained a 9-12 point advantage.

However, Ole Miss separated itself over the next few minutes as Travis Perry drilled a three pointer to give Ole Miss a 57-41 advantage, the largest lead of the game, forcing the Roadrunners to call a timeout with just under twelve minutes to play.

With 8:32 remaining, Corey Chest gave the Rebels a 20-point lead via a free throw. As the time ticked under five minutes to play, Ole Miss held a 21 point advantage with the scoreboard reading 72-51, as the Rebels were in firm control of the game.

With just 2:30 left Ole Miss took its largest lead of the night as the Rebels extended their lead to 78-53.

The final seconds ticked off the clock at the Tad Pad as the crowd rose to its feet with Ole Miss taking away an 82-60 win to close out play in the memorable arena.

Notables

• Ole Miss comes away with another double-digit takeaway night coming away with 7 steals and 6 blocks
• AJ Storr was the Rebels leading scorer with 14
• Ole Miss had three double digit scorer.

The final shooting percentages for the day were:

Ole Miss: 42% FG, 26% 3FG, 76% FT

CSU Bakersfield: 43% FG, 22% 3FG,  64% FT

A Look Ahead

The Rebels return to the court on Tuesday as they host the Austin Peay Governors at the SJB Pavilion with tip off set for 7 p.m. CT. The game will be streamed on SEC Network+