OXFORD — Keith Hornsby doesn’t have a pretty 3-point shot.
With a hitch in his motion, a long windup, and a low arc, Hornsby’s shooting technique gets the basketball to the rim in a hurry.
But the 6-foot-4 junior guard isn’t interested in style. Hornsby prefers results, and he provided plenty of those Wednesday night, scoring 20 of his 23 points in the second half to lead the LSU men’s basketball team past Ole Miss 75-71 at Tad Smith Coliseum.
“The shots we were getting in the first half, we knew we could make, so we just had to keep doing the same thing and trust that they were going to go in,” Hornsby said. “We did that and made them in the second half.”
Hornsby provided a hint he was about to get hot just before halftime, making a 3-pointer from the corner with 15 seconds remaining to give LSU a 32-28 halftime lead. He added four more 3-pointers in the second half — finishing 5 of 10 from behind the arc — providing an answer every time Ole Miss tried to make a run.
He had plenty of help. LSU’s talented frontcourt duo of Jarell Martin and Jordan Mickey. Martin had 18 points and 14 rebounds, while Mickey had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
But the Tigers are used to getting production from Martin and Mickey, who are NBA prospects and command the attention of the opposing defense on a nightly basis. LSU coach Johnny Jones said Hornsby’s scoring allows those big guys more room to work in the paint.
The Tigers’ other starting guard, Josh Gray, had 14 points and 10 assists.
“That’s the good balance and that’s the threat of our basketball team,” Jones said. “Our perimeter players are capable of making plays in a big-time way.”
LSU (13-3, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) broke a three-game losing streak against Ole Miss, and won for the first time in Oxford since 2009.
Ole Miss (10-6, 1-2) led for a big chunk of the first half, but couldn’t overcome a bad shooting night by its starting guards. Leading scorer Stefan Moody was 5 of 18 from the field and finished with 14 points.
M.J. Rhett led Ole Miss with 15 points.
The game was tight throughout the final minutes, but LSU made enough free throws — including two by Hornsby with five seconds left — to keep Ole Miss at arm’s length.
The Rebels used a 12-0 run to take a 44-43 lead on LaDarius White’s 3-pointer with 13 minutes, 49 seconds left, but LSU didn’t panic, using a mix of Mickey and Martin down low and timely outside shooting from Hornsby.
The 6-foot-10 Martin was especially efficient, making 9 of 12 shots from the field.
It was a third straight difficult game for LSU, which lost to Missouri in overtime last week before needing double overtime to beat Georgia.
Summers scored 13 points for Ole Miss while Dwight Coleby added 10 points and eight rebounds. Ole Miss was 27 of 78 (34.6 percent) from the field.
“I didn’t think we had pep in our step,” Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. “We looked lethargic. How can we be lethargic in these situations? It boggles my mind.”
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