The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
12-14, 3-12
LSU
18-9, 7-8
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| LSU | 32 | 45 | 77 |
| Ole Miss | 35 | 29 | 64 |
Men's Basketball Falls To LSU, 77-64
3/5/2003 | Men's Basketball
March 5, 2003
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By RALPH D. RUSSO
AP Sports Writer
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - Torris Bright scored a season-high 22 points as LSU finished the game with a 22-4 run and extended its winning streak to four games with a 77-64 victory over Mississippi on Wednesday night.
LSU (18-9, 7-8 Southeastern Conference) is making a late-season push for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament by winning five of its last six games.
The Tigers are one of only two teams to beat No. 1 Arizona and started SEC play ranked in the Top 25. But they went 1-6 to start conference play and have been playing catch-up ever since.
The Tigers play Alabama, another team in need of a win to bolster its NCAA resume, Saturday in Baton Rouge, La., to end the regular season.
Bright had 19 points in the second half and Ronald Dupree scored 18 on 8-for-11 shooting.
Emmanuel Wade scored 18 points to lead Ole Miss (12-14, 3-12 Southeastern Conference) in his last home game, but not even Senior Night could help the Rebels avoid their 10th straight loss.
The slide is Ole Miss' longest since the 1975-76 season. The Rebels are assured of their worst SEC record since 1994-95, when they went 3-13.
Trailing 60-56, LSU scored the next 15 points, sparked by Dupree. The senior made a driving layup and was fouled with 7:03 left. He completed the three-point play to give LSU a 61-60 lead. Dupree swished a turnaround jumper the next time down.
Bright finished the run with a layup to make it 71-60 with 2:13 left. Ole Miss went 5:58 without a point and missed 11 straight shots.
Seniors Derrick Allen and David Sanders each had 13 points for the Rebels.
Ole Miss jumped out to an 18-8 lead on five straight 3-pointers, including three by Wade.
Wade finished the first half with 14 points, but he and the Rebels eventually cooled down from behind the arc.
LSU slowly cut the lead by shooting 13-of-22 from the free throw line. Xavier Whipple hit a 3-pointer with 50 seconds left in the half for the Tigers and they trailed 35-32 at the break.
