Ole Miss men’s basketball overcomes Mississippi State, 68-67, in The Battle of the ‘Sip

First Half

Chris Beard stuck with his recent trend for the starting rotation: Kamardine, Eduardo Klafke, Pinkins, Dia, and James Scott. This has allowed for some major bench production from Storr, Travis Perry, and Kezza Giffa, a strategy that has paid dividends for the Rebels as of late.

Mississippi State opened the game on a 6–0 run before Kamardine scored the Rebels’ first basket at the 17-minute mark. The Bulldogs then went through a four-minute scoring drought, but Ole Miss was unable to fully capitalize. Offensive struggles persisted for the Rebels, who entered a media timeout with under 12 minutes remaining in the half, shooting just 3-for-14 from the field.

After the 7:30 mark, Ole Miss pieced together several defensive stops to cut the deficit to three, but another scoring drought—nearly three minutes long—halted any momentum. While Mississippi State appeared to control the entire half, the damage was limited. The difference came down to four made free throws and two rebounds, as the Bulldogs carried just a three-point lead into halftime.

Kamardine led Ole Miss in the first half with eight points, while Malik Dia—despite scoring only two points from the free-throw line—paced the team on the glass with five rebounds. Neither team found success from beyond the arc, as Ole Miss shot 1-for-13 from three-point range and Mississippi State went 0-for-12. Ole Miss only shot 31% from the field in the first half.

Second Half

This battle became a more back-and-forth affair in the second half. Scott opened the half with a basket for Ole Miss, followed by a free throw from Klafke to tie the game. Mississippi State responded with two made free throws to regain the lead, but Scott answered with a dunk at the 17:05 mark to give Ole Miss its first lead of the night.

The second half unfolded as gritty battle. Even after Mississippi State went on a 6–0  mini-run, the Rebels responded quickly to blunt the Bulldogs’ momentum.

A pivotal three-pointer by Mississippi State at the 7:50 mark swung the momentum back in the Bulldogs’ favor, and another triple shortly after allowed them to reclaim the lead. Dia answered with a turn-around jumper to tie the game, before Storr knocked down a jumper to put Ole Miss back in the lead. Mississippi State would respond, but Dia followed it up with another response of his own with a 13-foot jumper to give Ole Miss the 55-53 lead with 5:34 left .

Jayden Epps then connected on a three for the Bulldogs, a sequence that encapsulated the frantic nature of the second half.

With 1:16 remaining, AJ Storr knocked down a 15-foot jump shot to give the Rebels a four-point lead at 66-62. Mississippi State answered immediately, as Josh Hubbard buried a 24-foot three to cut the deficit to one (66-65). The Bulldogs regained possession, and Hubbard calmly sank two free throws to put Mississippi State back in front, 66-67.

Ole Miss would get the last laugh, however, as with 29 seconds left in the game, freshman Patton Pinkins blew past his defender and connected from about 15-feet to reclaim the Rebels’ lead. Hubbard would have a chance to answer back after drawing a foul with :12 seconds remaining.  Hubbard missed both attempts, leaving the Rebels up one. The Bulldogs would get one more crack to win the game but a missed Hubbard layup followed by a jumper from Pinkins with 19 seconds to go sealed the Rebels’ 68–67 victory.

Notables

• Ole Miss wins its 3rd straight SEC matchup. They are now 3-2 in the SEC.
• This will be the third time this season that Ole Miss has won a game when making five or fewer three-point field goals. Today’s 2-20 performance is tied for the least 3-points made this season (St John’s).
• AJ Storr has now scored in double figures in the last four games. He has either led or been tied for the leading scorer in each of the last three games.