The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Wins Season Opener
6/21/1999 | Men's Basketball
November 13, 1998
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - Keith Carter scored 22 points and Marcus Hicks had 12 to lead Mississippi to an 87-45 victory over Alabama State Friday night in the Rebels' season opener and first game under new head coach Rod Barnes.
Carter scored 17 first-half points on 7-of-10 shooting and the Rebels capitalized off 15 Alabama State turnovers early.
Ole Miss went on an 11-2 run to start the game and held the Hornets to 27 percent shooting in the first half.
Jason Flanigan hit a 3-pointer with 14:15 remaining to increase the Rebels' lead to 19-6. Hicks, who scored eight points before halftime, made a jumper with 5:12 left to put Ole Miss ahead 40-18.
Alabama State trailed 53-21 at the half.
Rob Evans, the coach who built Mississippi into an NCAA tournament team, and three of his key building blocks are gone, but the Rebels did not need them Friday.
Barnes, 32, was capable of leading Ole Miss to its school-record 21st straight home victory and its 35 win out of 36 home games. The Rebels play seven of their first eight games at Tad Smith Coliseum in Oxford.
Alabama State continued its poor shooting in the second half. The Hornets shot just 37 percent and had only one scorer in double figures for the game. Ole Miss had 11 players to score in the game.
Corey Williams led Alabama State with 11 points.
