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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
9-4
Austin Peay
5-9
Ole Miss Rolls Past Austin Peay
1/3/2015 | Men's Basketball
OXFORD, Miss. - Four players scored in double figures, led by senior guard Jarvis Summers with 18 points, as Ole Miss rolled past Austin Peay 92-63 on Saturday at the Tad Smith Coliseum.
Summers was 6-of-12 from the floor, including 2-of-4 from 3-point range, and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line, as he finished in double figures for the third straight game. Junior guard Stefan Moody was second on the team with 14 points, his team-leading 10th game in double figures this season.
"As we were making that push, he was being the player that we needed him to be," said head coach Andy Kennedy of Summers. "His body is beat up a little bit, like everybody in college basketball is at this point, but my hope is that he's getting back into a rhythm, and he understands his importance to this team."
Sophomore forward Dwight Coleby finished a career-high 12 points and tied a career high with seven rebounds and senior guard Terence Smith added 10 points, as the Ole Miss bench outscored the Austin Peay bench 39-10. The Rebels (9-4) shot a season-best 54.8 percent (34-of-62) from the floor and 52.4 percent (11-of-21) from 3-point range and dished out a season-high 23 assists compared to just 11 turnovers.
"It has taken us a while to figure out who's best with whom," Kennedy said. "We have been inefficient at times with turnovers. That was the key early in the game. That's what cost us the Dayton game and a number of the games early. We had four turnovers at the first media timeout and we end up with 11. We had 23 assists off made 34 made field goals, which shows we shared the ball. This team needs to share the ball. We have to help each other get shots."
The Governors (5-9) made each of their four shots of the game, during which they built a 10-4 lead, before the Rebels went on a 12-2 run, holding them to 1-of-10 shooting during the stretch, to take a 16-12 lead with 11:12 left in the half.
After three ties and four lead changes, Ole Miss went ahead for good, 21-19, on a jumper from senior M.J. Rhett with 5:29 left in the half. The Rebels finished the half on a 14-3 run, highlighted by a breakaway dunk from senior forward Aaron Jones and a pair of 3-pointers from Moody and Summers, to take a 42-29 lead into halftime.
Ole Miss led by double digits the rest of the way, leading by as many as 31, as the Rebels shot 61.3 percent and outscored Austin Peay 50-34 in the second half on the way to the 92-63 final.
The Rebels open SEC play on Tuesday when they travel to Kentucky to face the No. 1-ranked Wildcats in Lexington, before returning home to play South Carolina next Saturday.
"I'm just excited that it's SEC season," Kennedy said. "Obviously the stakes get raised. We get a chance to play the No. 1 team in the country in the best venue in all of college basketball. This is the reason you do this. I know our guys will be excited about the opportunity."
