Rebounding Helps Propel Rebels Past Kansas State, 67-56

OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss men's basketball team captured a 67-56 victory over Kansas State in the team's Big 12/SEC Challenge game at SJB Pavilion on Saturday afternoon.

On a day where Ole Miss (11-10, 2-6 SEC) shot 45.1 percent overall, it was the Rebel effort on the glass and defensively that made the difference. Kansas State (10-10, 2-6 Big 12) was unable to match the Rebels' hustle on the glass, with Ole Miss winning the rebounding battle 43-33, while the Rebel defense doubled-down, holding the Wildcats to just 30.2 percent overall and 30.6 percent from three.

The win was the first for Ole Miss in the nine-year history of the Big 12/SEC Challenge, as the Rebels entered the day 0-6 all-time in the yearly conference clash.

"We were representing Ole Miss, but we were also representing the SEC," said Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis. "I thought we had multiple guys play well and I thought we guarded well. To hold that team to 30 percent, we out-rebounded them by 10, and I just thought we had a lot of toughness, especially the last eight to 10 minutes of the game."

The Rebels saw early offense from the team's leading scorer Matthew Murrell, as he would score all seven of his first half points in the opening 8:09 of the game to help Ole Miss jump out to an early advantage on the Wildcats. Ole Miss then started to spread the wealth offensively, as a total of eight different Rebels would find their way onto the scoresheet in the opening frame, contributing to a 30-24 halftime lead for Ole Miss over Kansas State.

In the second half of play, the Rebels continued to wear down the Wildcats with physical play underneath the basket by logging 28 of the team's 37 second half points either in the paint or from the free throw line, while also recording 19 second half rebounds. Ole Miss would end the game with a total of 43 rebounds, the most the team had grabbed since the Rebels' 57-rebound performance against Rider in November.

Ole Miss would use their physical advantage on Kansas State to open the second half on a 7-0 run in the first 2:52 of play, giving the Rebels a 37-24 gap between themselves and the Wildcats. Fueled by a Luis Rodriguez three pointer that came after a Tye Fagan offensive board, the Rebels grabbed an advantage of 13 points on their Big 12 foe and never looked back.

The second half also saw freshman guard Daeshun Ruffin find his shooting stroke for the Rebels, as the Jackson, Mississippi, native would score a total of 13 second half points on 4-of-9 shooting. Ruffin, who ended the night with a career-high seven rebounds, has now finished in double-digit scoring in three straight games, as well as nine times on the season in just 13 total games played.

"I feel like (rebounding) helped us, and it helped our bigs take a break from battling all these bigs," Ruffin said. "When guards come down to grab those 50-50 balls, it definitely credits to our win. We stat our 50-50 balls, and I feel like me going to get those seven was just an extra boost."

Despite the efforts of Mark Smith (20 points, 16 rebounds) and Nijel Pack (18 points, seven assists) for the Wildcats, Ruffin and company proved too much as the Rebels would maintain a multi-possession advantage on Kansas State until the game's final buzzer.

Ending their homestand with a victory, the Rebels will now return to SEC play and travel to Baton Rouge to battle the No. 19 LSU Tigers (16-5, 4-4 SEC) on Tuesday night. Tipoff for the SEC clash is set for 8 p.m. CT.

For the latest news and updates regarding Ole Miss Men's Basketball, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissMBB, on Facebook at Ole Miss Men's Basketball and on Instagram at olemissmbb.

RebelsCalendar

Next Event

Team Stats

Daeshun Ruffin

Luis Rodriguez

Matthew Murrell

Tye Fagan

Players Mentioned

Tye Fagan

Matthew Murrell

Luis Rodriguez

Daeshun Ruffin

The University of Mississippi Athletics