The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
9-3
South Alabama
7-6
Rebels Roll Past South Alabama
12/22/2016 | Men's Basketball
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By Dylan Edwards, OleMissSports.com
OXFORD, Miss. - In the final game before conference play kicks off for Ole Miss, the Rebels cruised to an easy 92-58 win against South Alabama. Ole Miss led for all but 1:58 of the contest.
The Ole Miss defense smothered South Alabama all throughout the game, holding the Jaguars to 29 percent from the field and 22 percent from behind the arc. Adding to that, the Rebels held a 15-rebound advantage on the boards and swatted eight shots.
Sebastian Saiz and Deandre Burnett led the Rebels on offense by contributing 23 and 21 points, respectively. Ole Miss had points coming from many different places as Burnett, Saiz, Cullen Neal, Terence Davis, and Justas Furmanavicius all scored in double-figures. Saiz grabbed 16 rebounds for his seventh double-double this season while Neal dished out a season-high nine assists.
Coming into the game, South Alabama had only allowed opponents to eclipse 80 points twice this season. The Jaguars had no answer for the Rebels offense as Ole Miss shot nearly 50 percent from the floor. The Rebels moved the ball extremely efficiently and effectively, scoring 29 buckets on 23 assists.
After briefly falling behind, Ole Miss went on a 14-0 run through the middle portion of the first half to take control of the game for good. The run was highlighted by seven straight points from Furmanavicius. From that point forward, the Rebels were never threatened as South Alabama was never able to cut the deficit down to single digits.
Ole Miss has a week off before entering conference playing with a bang, hosting No. 6 Kentucky.
