The University of Mississippi Athletics
Men's Basketball Downs SEC Rival Alabama
6/21/1999 | Men's Basketball
January 6, 1999
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - Rahim Lockhart came off the bench to score a career-high 21 points as Mississippi beat Alabama 78-60 Wednesday night, extending its school-record homecourt winning streak to 29 games.
Ole Miss (11-4, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) has won 44 of its last 45 games at Tad Smith Coliseum the past three years, the last loss 59-46 in January 1997 to Alabama, which lost by just a point in Oxford last season.
But Alabama (10-5, 0-2 SEC) never recovered - and couldn't get close again - after Ole Miss broke a 15-all tie midway through the first half with a 14-0 run.
Ole Miss led 35-25 at halftime, and maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half. The Rebels led by as many as 23 points.
The Crimson Tide led 9-5 in the opening minutes, but Lockhart had six early points, including a lay-in that gave Ole Miss its first lead at 11-9.
Led by Lockhart, the Ole Miss bench outscored the Alabama reserves 42-11.
Keith Carter added 19 points and Marcus Hicks, also playing off the bench, had 13 points for the Rebels.
Brian Williams led Alabama with 18 points. MC Mazique and Chris Rollins both had 10 points.
Alabama, coming off a one-point loss in its SEC opener vs. Georgia, shot 55 percent from the field (24-of-43). But Ole Miss was better at 58 percent (30-of-51) and had 10 less turnovers (23-13).
The next three games for Ole Miss are against Top 25 teams. The Rebels play Saturday at No. 19 Arkansas and then return home next week to host both No. 14 Auburn and No. 6 Kentucky.
During the homecourt winning streak, Ole Miss has won by an average margin of 29 points. Just five opponents, including Auburn and Kentucky, have kept the final margin at seven points or less.
