The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
12-13,3-9SEC
Missouri
10-14,4-7SEC
Late Comeback Falls Short as Rebels Fall at Missouri, 74-68
2/12/2022 | Men's Basketball
Murrell Leads with 15, Rodriguez Fourth Career-Double-Double (12 Points, 10 Rebounds)
COLUMBIA, Mo. – A late comeback push by the Ole Miss men's basketball team fell just short after a valiant second-half effort, but it wasn't enough as the Rebels fell at Missouri, 74-68, on Saturday night.
A late offensive push by the Rebels (12-13, 3-9 SEC) cut a 20-point second half deficit down to as little as four, thanks in large part to a 50 percent shooting effort on the night by Ole Miss. But a 21-2 run by the Tigers (10-14, 4-7 SEC) spanning from the first half into the second and 20 Mizzou points off of 12 Rebel turnovers was enough to hold the lead in the end.
"We showed a lot of toughness at the end," said Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis. "We tried to settle on five guys that could make stops, but our bigs just really struggled guarding smaller guys, and Nas (Brooks) finally in the second half got into a stance and started guarding. I really think our team had a chance to win. We had some looks too down the stretch to get it to a one possession game, but failed to do it. But the team fought it and hung in there until the end."
Despite a cold start, Missouri seemed to have an early offensive edge in the game over the Rebels, connecting on 9-of-11 field goal attempts from 18:49 to the 9:54 mark, helping the Tigers maintain the lead the first 10 minutes of play. But the Rebels hung on behind the scoring of Matthew Murrell, who logged a total of 12 first half points for Ole Miss to give the Rebels their first lead of the game with 8:46 left in the first.
Even with the Rebels shooting 51.9 percent from the field in the first half, including Murrell putting together his fifth double-digit scoring first half of the year, the Tigers continued to connect offensively. Missouri would close the first half on a 12-2 run to lead 43-32 at the break, and it ended the first half shooting 52.9 percent from the floor and 62.5 percent from three point range, going 5-of-8 beyond the arc.
The second half would open with the Tigers maintaining their momentum from the first, opening the frame with an additional 9-0 run to bump Missouri up to a 52-32 lead with 16:59 remaining in the game – a total run of 21-2 from the 4:07 mark of the first half to 16:59 in the second.
However, the Rebels would not go quietly, as the team hunkered down and saw an 8-0 offensive spurt from 10:04 to 7:36, cutting Missouri's advantage down to just 10 points. The Rebels would continue to chip away at the Tiger lead, coming as close as four points from Missouri with just 15 seconds remaining in regulation after holding the Tigers to zero field goals in the last 3:27 of play.
The Rebels were unable to connect on a few good looks in those final seconds, and Missouri was able to seal the victory at the free throw line and hang on for the close win. In the end, five Tigers ended in double-digit scoring.
Matthew Murrell led the way for the Rebels, scoring 15 points on a 6-of-11 clip from the floor. Jarkel Joiner (13 points) and Luis Rodgriguez (12 points) would also finish in double-digits, with Rodriguez grabbing 10 rebounds to earn his fourth career double-double. Rodriguez has now hauled in at least 10 rebounds in three of his last four games after having only done so three total time in his career prior to this season.
Ole Miss will now return to Oxford to take on South Carolina (14-10, 5-7 SEC) at SJB Pavilion on Tuesday night. The Rebel-Gamecock matchup is currently set for a 6 p.m. CT tipoff on ESPNU.
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