The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
5-2
Saint Louis
4-4
Rebels Defeat Billikens, 77-64
12/13/2005 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 13, 2005
Final Stats
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- A balanced scoring effort and a key first half run helped lift the Mississippi Rebels to a 77-64 win over Saint Louis Tuesday night.
Ole Miss earned its first win over Saint Louis and improved to 5-2 on the season while the Billikens fell to 4-4, including 1-4 on the road.
The game was tight for the first 12 minutes of the game as both teams traded leads.
Momentum shifted in Ole Miss' favor at the 8:39 mark of the first period when Londrick Nolen started a 16-6 run with two free throws. Nolen, who finished the night with eight points, had six points in the run while junior guard Bam Doyne had seven points.
Ole Miss was up by 11 (33-22) when Saint Louis center Ian Vouyoukas ended the run with an inside bucket. The Rebels didn't let the Billikens get much momentum, however, as center Dwayne Curtis scored the final six points on inside buckets to keep Ole Miss up by 10 (39-29) at the half.
A halftime break didn't hurt the Rebels as they came out ready to score more. The 10-point lead increased to 24 (67-43) by the 10:56 mark as several reserves saw playing time. Freshman Trey Hampton hit a 3-pointer and had an old-fashioned three-point play while Xavier Hansboro and Brandon Patterson each had a trey.
Saint Louis did outscore Ole Miss 12-2 over the final 4:36 to make the game closer than it was most of the contest.
Ole Miss hit 7 of 15 from behind the 3-point arc while the Billikens were 4 of 11. The Rebels outrebounded Saint Louis 33 to 32 and shot 57.1 percent from the field compared to just 41.4 percent for the Billikens.
The only area the Rebels really struggled in Tuesday was at the free throw line where they shot just 40 percent.
Doyne led Ole Miss with 15 points while Curtis and Hampton each had 14 points. Tommie Liddell led Saint Louis with 15 points while Vouyoukas had 12 in the losing effort.
