Fans of the home team got more than what they bargained for as No. 15 Mississippi State staved off valiant comeback efforts by No. 21 Ole Miss to exit Humphrey Coliseum an 84-81 overtime victor.
The Bulldogs (15-3, 3-2 SEC), fueled by a loud, sold-out crowd, opened things up on a major run and looked to neutralize their in-state foe early. Chris Beard’s Rebels (15-3, 4-1 SEC) trailed for roughly 39 minutes of regulation, but Matthew Murrell hit a heroic shot from deep to send what was once a blowout into an extra period.
From there, Ole Miss took its first lead of the night and had the audience on pins and needles. RJ Melendez was the catalyst of a five-point swing that ultimately sent the Bulldogs over the hump (pun intended).
With under two minutes on the clock, standout Mississippi State sophomore Josh Hubbard missed a jumper and the ball was secured by Davon Barnes, who ultimately found Murrell in transition for what looked to be a go-ahead fastbreak bucket to give Ole Miss its largest advantage of the evening.
Melendez rejected Murrell’s layup, delivering what Bulldog frontman Chris Jans dubbed to be “by far” the biggest play of the game. In transition, Cam Matthews crashed to the basket but elected to pass it out to Riley Kugel, who hit a triple to put Mississippi State back on top.
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Ole Miss fought back, but the efforts were insufficient to mount a third consecutive SEC victory on the road. Trailing by five with four seconds on the clock, Jaemyn Brakefield was fouled on what was ruled a flagrant one on Shawn Jones, Jr. The Jackson native hit his two free throws to give the Rebels a chance but air-balled a three-pointer at the buzzer.
Mississippi State earned a much-needed win after dropping back-to-back contests, while also giving the Rebels their first shortcoming since conference play began in early January. The two programs will square off once more on Saturday, February 15 in Oxford.
As has proven true this year, each battle in the SEC matters significantly as the competition intensifies.
Game Recap
Mississippi State scored early and often, testing Ole Miss’ no-middle defense, in the first seven minutes of the game. Melendez, Kugel, and KeyShawn Murphy showed their range and knocked down shots from deep to help propel the maroon and white to an 18-4 advantage as the Rebels could not buy a bucket.
Ole Miss stopped the hemorrhaging and settled defensively, which translated into offensive production — as has been the case for this team all season. Brakefield knocked down a triple, Jalen Murray led a successful three-point possession, and Barnes hit a jumper to cut the Rebels’ deficit to seven with 8:51 left in the half.
Claudell Harris then hit a shot from deep and the momentum from both the shot and the crowd’s reaction aided in Mississippi State separating on the scoreboard, posting a 14-point lead with just over a minute on the clock. Sean Pedulla and Dre Davis hit much-needed threes for Ole Miss to put the Rebels down 37-29 at the intermission.
The Rebels, seeing an opportunity to play spoiler on the road once more, came out swinging in the second half. Murrell’s seven points in the first four minutes of the half led a 7-2 Ole Miss run to cut the deficit to just one point. However, the crowd was ignited and Mississippi State refused to surrender its advantage. Hubbard, who was having an off-night offensively, connected on a shot from behind the arc, Matthews flushed a dunk, and Murphy laid the ball in to put the Bulldogs back up eight.
After a quiet first half, Ole Miss forward Malik Dia nailed a pair of triples to prevent the contest from getting out of reach. With just over four minutes remaining in regulation, Brakefield was good from deep to knot things up.
A back-and-forth affair resumed with Mississippi State reclaiming and maintaining a lead until Murrell’s three sent it to overtime. And the rest was certainly one for the sports history books.
Impact Players
For Mississippi State, Kugel and Murphy were by far the most impactful players on the court. Kugel, who missed the Bulldogs’ midweek game against Auburn, had 21 points and hit the three-ball to put the Bulldogs back on top late in overtime. Murphy was consistent from the floor, scoring 18 points and punishing Ole Miss down low all night. Matthews was one of the most effective players in the outing with 11 rebounds.
Beard’s most productive player was Brakefield, who ended the night with 20 points and a team-best seven rebounds. Pedulla, with 18 points and three steals, made his presence known on both ends of the court. Murrell had 15 points and was the reason the game was able to be extended.
Deciding Factor
Rebounding and the ability to get to the free-throw line highlighted a stark disparity between the two programs. The Bulldogs outrebounded their counterpart 51-29, with 19 boards coming on the offensive glass. This gifted Jans’ crew 19 second-chance points in a matchup that was decided on one possession.
Ole Miss mitigated the rebounding difference with hard-nosed defense and by forcing turnovers. The Rebels had 14 points off of Mississippi State’s 15 giveaways, while the Bulldogs only had three points to show off 10 Ole Miss turnovers.
Mississippi State bridged that gap at the free throw line, where they attempted 14 more shots. The Bulldogs had nine more points at the charity stripe.
One other area of success for the winning team was stopping Ole Miss in the post. Over the past three Rebel games, Dia had been the key to success and inarguably the best player on the court. That changed on Saturday with Mississippi State keeping the Belmont transfer away from the basket and preventing him from being a difference-maker on the glass. Dia, who had 23 points and 19 rebounds versus No. 4 Alabama on Tuesday, was limited to eight points and two boards in Starkville.
Coaches’ Comments
Jans, recognizing that his team was on the brink of disaster if they lost three straight, noted that he counted this rivalry game a “must-win” but did not use that rhetoric when addressing his players early in the week. The third-year Bulldog head coach went on to credit his team for playing with confidence and feeding off the electric crowd to earn a breather of a win.
“I didn’t tell the team that this was a ‘must-win,’ but it certainly was for me internally. I don’t know if we’ve had a bigger ‘must-win’ than today, going into the game, in my opinion,” Jans said.
“Obviously, it’s a rivalry game. Everything added up. This was going to be a big turning point for us one way or another. But our guys did not play like that. Our guys came out of the gate really loose, confident, and comfortable. Certainly, the crowd had a lot to do with that.”
Beard deemed the opening minutes of the first half to be the primary reason the Rebels lost, followed by the astonishing discrepancies on the glass and at the charity stripe. The second-year Ole Miss headman contended that his team fought back valiantly to send it to overtime but did not do quite enough to overcome poor rebounding and a slew of fouls.
“The start of the game for us was unacceptable. You can’t get in a hole like that in the first eight minutes of the game. I give [Mississippi State] credit,” Beard said. “They fed off the crowd and were the more physical and aggressive team … We understood what we were walking into today and just didn’t get it done early.
“In the basketball game, there was a difference in free throws and rebounds. They made more free throws than we shot … The free throw differential was special. To overcome that, you must do something special … We had one offensive rebound and were out-rebounded by 15 at the half.”
Next Up
Mississippi State will travel one state up to square off against No. 6 Tennessee on Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2. Ole Miss will return home to face No. 11 Texas A&M on Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT. The midweek showdown will also be televised on ESPN2.
Both games can be listened to via participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations.
