The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
12-12, 4-9SEC
Vanderbilt
18-6, 7-6SEC
Ole Miss Falls To Vanderbilt, 77-65
2/25/2004 | Men's Basketball
Feb 25, 2004
Box Score
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) - Matt Freije scored 20 points and Vanderbilt dominated the final 12 minutes to beat Mississippi 77-65 on Wednesday night.
The Commodores (18-6, 7-6 Southeastern Conference) moved into a three-way tie with Florida and South Carolina for second place in the SEC Eastern Division. The win also snapped an eight-game losing streak at Ole Miss that stretched back to 1989.
Freije became the leading scorer in Vanderbilt history, with 1,739 points. Mario Moore added 17 points, David Przbyszewski had 16 points and Russell Lakey had 11 for Vanderbilt.
Aaron Harper had 29 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for Mississippi (12-12, 4-9), who lost for the fifth time in the last six outings.
Justin Reed added 21 points, but the remaining players managed only 6-of-22 shooting from the floor.
Vanderbilt led 36-24 at halftime, building a 10-point lead in the opening eight minutes.
Ole Miss, with Harper and Reed accounting for 11 straight points, tied the game 44-44 with 12:23 left.
Vanderbilt took the lead for good with an 18-2 run, taking a 62-46 lead with 6:16 left. Freije had eight points during the surge and the Vanderbilt defense forced five misses from the field and a turnover by the Rebels.
The Commodores hit 11-of-12 free throws in the final four minutes and Ole Miss never got closer than nine points again.
Vanderbilt finished 25-of-30 from the free throw line and 22-of-45 from the floor. Ole Miss was 24-of-59 from the floor and 11-of-15 from the line.
