Ole Miss Men’s Basketball Drops Tenth Straight in Double-Overtime Loss to LSU Tigers

OXFORD, Miss.– The Ole Miss men’s basketball team returned to the floor on Wednesday night as the Rebels took on the LSU Tigers, where Chris Beard’s squad dropped its tenth straight game in double overtime fashion, 99-106.

First Half

The Rebels opened the game quickly, winning the opening tip-off before Patton Pinkins drew first blood with a floater on the first possession of the game.

The opening minutes played out evenly, with Ole Miss holding a slight advantage of 9-7 heading into the first media timeout, with both teams easing into the game as each side shot 3/7 over the first four minutes.

Both sides picked it up offensively over the course of the next few minutes into the next media timeout as LSU then took a slim 15-18 advantage over Ole Miss as their shooting from outside the arc picked up.

The game remained evenly contested as the clock ticked near five minutes, as the back and forth continued as well, but this time Ole Miss took a little bit of an edge behind Malik Dia, who notched his way into double-digit scoring. Ole Miss held a 33-29 lead as the clock hit five minutes remaining.

As the final minute of the first half played, the game was knotted even at 40 a side. LSU then drew a foul, but missed one of the two free throws, giving Ole Miss possession in the front court. After a timeout, 24 seconds remained on the shot clock, and 30 remained on the game clock.

The after timeout play from Ole Miss found a cutting AJ Storr who layed in what would be the final bucket of the first half, giving Ole Miss a 42-41 lead at the break.

Second Half

The second half began with Ole Miss recording the first basket again; this time, Eduardo Klafke splashed home a deep corner two-point jumper.

This was just the beginning of the Rebels’ red-hot start in the second twenty minutes of play.

Ilias Kamardine came down the floor and drilled a side-step three, before Klafke forced the Tigers first timeout of the second half with a three of his own, giving Ole Miss a 50-43 lead fresh out of the break.

Out of the timeout, Tigers guard Max Mackinnon scored a layup for his 20th point of the night, before Jalen Reece splashed a three-pointer to make it a two-point game.

Headed into the first media timeout of the half, Ole Miss continued to sustain a slim 54-50 advantage with 115:36 remaining on the clock.

The game continued with both offenses staying red-hot for the next four minutes. Each team surpassed the 60-point mark, with Ole Miss holding a one-point lead, but every time they made a shot, the Tigers were right there with an answer.

The game trend continued as both the offenses refused to give an inch as the clock read 7:41, with Ole Miss pulling away slightly as they tied their largest lead of the game with a 73-66 lead.

The game ticked under five minutes remaining, and for the first time, the offenses slowed down as Ole Miss held a 78-71 lead with 4:19 remaining, but had four players eclipsed the double-digit point mark.

Ole Miss’ offense had really slowed down by the 2:45 mark as they had gone three minutes without a basket, and LSU climbed back to within two points with the score standing at 78-76.

The Ole Miss drought was ended when Kamardine converted a mid-range jump shot, shortly before the LSU offensive possession drove the clock under two minutes to play.

LSU put together a defensive stop and a tough layup to knot the game even at 80 with just 90 seconds remaining on the clock.

Ole Miss responded with a pick and roll play, which ended up in a Corey Chest and-one dunk after a perfect pass from Klafke, igniting The Pavilion.

However, a missed free throw from Chest left it at a two-point game.

With 15 seconds remaining, Rashad King went to the line for two, drilling both, giving Ole Miss one last chance.

After Storr was blocked, the ball carried out of bounds, which allowed Chris Beard to call his final timeout for a shot at a game-winning play to end the drought.

However, Patton Pinkins was unable to send the fans home and instead sent the game to overtime.

Overtime

After a scoreless first minute, Kamardine headed to the line as Ole Miss once again drew first blood to open a new period. The game stayed close as Ole Miss maintained a slight two-point advantage headed into the final 90 seconds of overtime, but LSU refused to give in, knotting the game with 1:09 left remaining, heading into a timeout.

Out of the timeout, Klafke immediately found himself at the free-throw line, and again reinstated a two-point Rebel lead, but another tough layup from the Tigers knotted it at 90.

After a diving save from Storr, the Rebels retained possession for another chance at a game-winning shot with 7.6 seconds remaining, and the shot clock was turned off.

This time, Ole Miss got a great look with Storr in the midrange, but the shot went off the front rim at the buzzer, sending the thriller into second overtime.

Double Overtime

Right off the tip of double overtime, Kamardine was fouled again and again drilled both free throws to begin the period.

But, as they were all night, LSU was there with an immediate answer as Rob Miller III slammed home a dunk on the end of a pick and roll.

LSU then took the lead with an and-one from Mackinnon, scoring three of his eight points since the first half.

As the clock ticked under three in double overtime, Ole Miss trailed by three, but Dia cut that deficit to just one with a post hook from the paint.

After a pair of free throws from Miller, the Tigers lead jumped back to three points with 2:10 remaining.

Pinkins then headed to the line for Ole Miss, and again, the Tigers lead was just one.

Mackinnon was catching fire for LSU, however, as he converted another floater, and the Tigers quickly followed that with a defensive stop holding possession with under a minute remaining before coach Matt McMahon burned a timeout to gameplan the final 55 seconds with his team.

Mackinnon and some strong defense then put the dagger in the heart of Ole Miss, as another floater and a pair of free throws with a blocked shot gave LSU a 96-103 lead with under 30 seconds left.

While a three from Klafke brought the Rebels within four, he was then called for a foul before the ball was inbounded, that foul was then placed under review and upgraded to a flagrant foul, giving LSU two free throws and possession with the shot clock turned off.

The flagrant free throw allowed Mackinnon to amass 30 points on the night in what would be the final blow to Ole Miss as they dropped their tenth consecutive game with a final score of 99-106.

A Look Ahead

Ole Miss returns to the floor on Saturday as head on the road for the final time this regular season to face off against the Auburn Tigers at 7:30 P.M. CT.