Murrell’s Big Night Propels Men’s Basketball Over MSU, 82-72

OXFORD, Miss. – Matthew Murrell's 31 points led a spectacular all-around team effort from the Ole Miss men's basketball team, as the Rebels emerged victorious over in-state rival Mississippi State, 82-72, at SJB Pavilion on Saturday night.

Ole Miss (9-5, 1-1 SEC) was the beneficiary of several superb individual performances, but it was the dynamite shooting of Murrell that sparked the Rebels early and helped them keep pace over a talented Mississippi State (10-4, 1-1 SEC) squad that managed to stay competitive despite going down by as many as 20 following a torrid first half from Ole Miss. This was the 265th meeting all-time between the Rebels and Bulldogs, the oldest rivalry in the SEC that dates back to 1914. With the win, Ole Miss improves to 86-45 all-time against State in Oxford.

"There's nothing like a rivalry game," said Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis. "I've grown up with this rivalry my whole life and I've been on both sides of it, which is unique. Sure am glad to be on this side. (MSU) has a great chance at going to the NCAA Tournament. They're well-coached, tough. It was a great game, great crowd, and I appreciate everybody that came."

Murrell was the first Rebel to score on the night at the 19:08 mark of the first half and he never looked back, ending with a career-high 31 points on 10-of-11 shooting, a 5-of-5 line from three and a 6-of-6 free throw clip – 23 of which came in a demonstrative first half. Those 31 total points are tied for the most by any SEC player this season, and also stand as the most scored by any SEC player in conference play this year. He is just the third Rebel to ever go 5-of-5 from beyond the arc in a game, joining Devontae Shuler vs. Jackson State on Dec. 10, 2020 and Joe Harvell on March 9, 1990. Murrell's 23 first-half points are the most by a Rebel in the first half against an SEC opponent since Stefan Moody scored 24 against Mississippi State on March 2, 2016.

"Last time I felt this in the zone was at IMG [Academy] in high school when I had played on ESPN," Murrell said postgame. "That was the last time I've felt this way."

"We got off to an unbelievable start," Davis said. "We got into a great rhythm and Matt Murrell just got into an unbelievable zone. He's been practicing like that lately and making every shot like that."

That first half start wound up with a 50-36 Rebel advantage at the break, the most points scored by Ole Miss in the first half against an SEC opponent since scoring 51 against Mississippi State on Jan. 31, 2017. An early 15-2 run by the Rebels from 18:28 to 14:28 helped give Ole Miss a 17-7 lead, with the Rebels hitting three trifectas in that early stretch. However, the Bulldogs fought back with a 12-2 run of their own to knot the game back up at 19-19 with 11:30 to go in the first half. Ole Miss responded in large fashion, pulling off a 22-8 run from 11:02 to 5:07. Murrell tallied eight of his 23 first half points in that run, and then closed the half with two more threes to put the Rebels at 50 points heading into the locker room.

Senior Nysier Brooks took control right out of the break, scoring the first six Rebel points before a Jaemyn Brakefield three at 17:12 put the Rebels up by a game-high 20 points at 59-39. A follow-up 12-2 run from State cut the Rebel lead down to 61-51 with 13:13 left, and the Bulldogs were able to further chip away to single digits several times over the final five minutes of action, but the bombastic first half offensive output and the four-headed scoring attack of Murrell (31), Brooks (15), Brakefield (15) and Daeshun Ruffin (17) proved too much to overcome.

For Brooks, his final stat line read an impressive 15 points, a career-high 16 rebounds and a career-high five blocks. Of his 16 boards, eight came on the offensive glass.

"Nysier Brooks was the difference in the game with 16 rebounds," Davis said. "He just was a presence the whole night and he just never left the paint and they were one of the best rebounding teams in the country."

Freshman guard Daeshun Ruffin had another great outing, dropping 17 points on a career-high three three-pointers made, while also dishing out a career-high eight assists and nabbing four steals. Jaemyn Brakefield ended with 15 points, four rebounds and a block. On the night, Ole Miss shot 11-of-23 from three – making their last two games now 22-of-45 (.489) – and received only one point off the bench.

Ole Miss returns to the road next Tuesday when it travels to take on Texas A&M (13-2, 2-0 SEC) on Tuesday night. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT live on SEC Network.

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.

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Team Stats

Matthew Murrell

Daeshun Ruffin

Nysier Brooks

Jaemyn Brakefield

Players Mentioned

Jaemyn Brakefield

Nysier Brooks

Matthew Murrell

Daeshun Ruffin

Devontae Shuler

Players Mentioned

Jaemyn Brakefield

Nysier Brooks

Matthew Murrell

Daeshun Ruffin

Devontae Shuler

The University of Mississippi Athletics