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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
4-1
Villanova
5-0
Rebels Drop Title Game To No. 5 Villanova
11/23/2009 | Men's Basketball
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Chris Warren scored 24 points, but No. 5 Villanova used a big second half to hand Ole Miss a 79-67 loss in the championship game of the 2009 O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off.
Terrico White added 14 points and nine rebounds, but the Rebels were unable to claim a victory against the highest ranked non-conference regular-season foe in school history.
Scottie Reynolds scored 21 points and Corey Stokes added 18 for Villanova.
Antonio Pena added 17 points and 16 rebounds for the Wildcats (5-0), who did nothing to diminish their status as favorites in the Big East during their trip to the Caribbean.
Villanova used an 8-0 run in the opening minutes Sunday night and led 27-23 at halftime, holding the Rebels (4-1) to only 29.6 percent shooting from the field.
Villanova wound up shooting 41.5 percent and outscored Ole Miss 36-18 in the paint, and the Rebels were just 12 of 21 (57.1 percent) from the foul line.
Murphy Holloway added 10 points for the Rebels, who play Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Sunday in Oxford.
