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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
13-7, 4-3SEC
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Mississippi State
9-11, 2-5SEC
Rebels Knock Off Rival Bulldogs
1/28/2015 | Men's Basketball
OXFORD, Miss. - Trailing by as many as 13 in the second half, senior guard Jarvis Summers exploded for 22 second-half points to power Ole Miss past Mississippi State 79-73 on Wednesday night at Tad Smith Coliseum.
"It's a gutsy win," head coach Andy Kennedy said. "Mississippi State came in and hit us with a good shot. For our guys not to have played our best, but to continue to grind and find a way to make the plays down the stretch, it shows growth."
Summers finished with 22 points, one shy of his season high, all in the second half, to go along with a game-high seven assists. He went 4-of-10 from the field and 2-of-4 from 3-point range, but he went 12-of-15 from the free-throw line.
"I was just being more aggressive," Summers said. "I didn't score in the first half. I had two fouls and had to sit out, so I told myself I was going to come out and be more aggressive and make plays."
Summers was joined in double figures by junior guard Stefan Moody (14 points) and senior guard LaDarius White (12 points). The Rebels (13-7, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) also received key contributions off the bench from junior forward Anthony Perez and senior guard Terence Smith, who finished with seven points each.
Mississippi State (9-11, 2-5 SEC) shot 55.6 percent (30-of-54) from the field, including 7-of-18 from 3-point range, led by sophomore guard Craig Sword, who scored a season-high 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range.
The Bulldogs also won the rebounding battle, 34-31, but Ole Miss made key plays in other areas to come away with the win. The Rebels scored 23 points off 16 Mississippi State turnovers and committed a season-low six turnovers, while shooting 78 percent (29-of-37) from the free-throw line.
"Very, very seldom do you win basketball games in the SEC when you get outrebounded," Kennedy said. "It was the first time we had been outrebounded since Kentucky. They outrebound us and they shoot 56 percent from the floor and almost 50 percent from 3. I give our guys credit for staying in the fight and making enough plays to survive."
Mississippi State raced out to a 13-2 lead before Ole Miss made its first field goal of the game, a jumper by Moody at the 14:49 mark in the first half. The Rebels answered with a 17-2 run to take a 21-18 lead with 7:54 left, their first lead of the game. It remained close for the rest of the half, as Mississippi State used a 6-0 run to regain a 27-23 lead and took a 32-28 lead into halftime.
Coming out of halftime, the Bulldogs made six of their first eights shots, stretching their lead to 45-32 with 16:29 left, their largest lead of the game. Ole Miss used runs of 8-2 and 9-2 to get within one, 58-57, with 7:50 left, before tying the game at 60-60 on a 3-pointer by Perez with 6:16 left.
The Rebels went ahead for good, 64-62, on two free throws by Summers with 4:51 left, pushing the lead to 72-65 after another 3-pointer by Perez, followed by a four-point play by Summers, where he knocked down a double-clutch 3-pointer, drawing the foul, and then made the free throw. From there, Ole Miss closed out the game from the free-throw line, where the team was 21-of-27 in the second half.
"At the end, we made heady plays," Kennedy said. "One of the things that I thought was the strength of our group was our experience, but we had not played to that experience. In the last two games, down the stretch, we have made heady plays of getting an angle and shot-faking, leaning in, getting a guy off balance, and then continuing to make free throws at a very efficient rate."
The Rebels hit the road for a game against Missouri on Saturday. Tip-off from Columbia, Missouri, is set for 3 p.m. CT and it will be televised by Fox Sports South.
