OXFORD — Style points are not a big deal to Ole Miss men’s basketball coach Andy Kennedy.
The bottom line is more important.
“At the end of the day, they don’t say how. They just say how many,” Kennedy said Wednesday after Ole Miss rallied for an 83-80 overtime victory against Troy. “We’re just happy to get our seventh win in a row heading into the SEC schedule.”
Tomasz Gielo and Stefan Moody scored 23 points apiece for the Rebels, who played their finale in Tad Smith Coliseum, which served as home court since 1966. Ole Miss needed a season-high offensive performance from Gielo, who finished 5 of 11 from 3-point range.
Sebastian Saiz and Martavious Newby added 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Rebels. Saiz had six points in overtime as Ole Miss outscored Troy 5-0 in the final minute to erase an 80-78 deficit.
Jeremy Hollimon scored 22 points, including 14 in the final five minutes of regulation, to lead the upset bid for Troy (5-6). Wesley Person and Jordon Varnado added 17 points apiece for the Trojans, who led at halftime 32-31.
“Our players fought and battled hard and I’m proud of this effort,” Troy coach Phil Cunningham said. “We don’t like losing, but we had the fight and we gave ourselves an opportunity. There were a lot of positives.”
The Trojans rallied from a 61-48 deficit with 7 minutes, 48 seconds left behind Hollimon’s late outburst to force overtime at 73-73. Person hit a basket and two free throws to give Troy an 80-78 overtime lead with 1:16 remaining.
Saiz converted a layup and a pair of free throws in successive overtime possessions, to give the Rebels an 82-80 lead with 33 seconds left.
Hollimon missed a contested layup with seven seconds remaining before Anthony Perez hit a final free throw to seal it for the Rebels.
“We got just enough stops,” Kennedy said. “We had players step up for us.
“Troy challenged us and I’m proud we answered that challenge.”
Ole Miss shot 30 of 71 (42 percent) from the field, including 8 of 29 (28 percent) from 3-point range and forced 19 turnovers. The Bulldogs finished 31 of 65 (48 percent) from the field, 6 of 20 (30 percent) from the 3-point line including four straight conversions in the final three minutes.
Ole Miss finished 490-210 (70 percent) at Tad Smith Coliseum. The Rebels move to the $95 million, state-of-the-art “The Pavilion,” to begin Southeastern Conference play in January.
“It’s been easy for people to poke fun at Tad Smith Coliseum, but the truth is my teams have won about 80 percent of our games here. There are a lot of good memories here,” Kennedy said. “But now our dream is becoming a reality with the Pavilion. It’s the next step in where we want this program to be.”
Ole Miss will visit Kentucky on Jan. 2 in the SEC opener for both teams.
n Tulane 59, Southern Mississippi 40: At New Orleans, Malik Morgan had a game-high 15 points to lead the Green Wave (7-6) past the Golden Eagles (2-8) at Delvin Fieldhouse.
Cameron Reynolds had 10 points, and Dylan Osetkowski had a game-high nine rebounds for Tulane, which used a 12-0 run to build a 28-13 lead in the first half. It used a 9-2 run to end the half to take a 37-19 lead at halftime.
Eddie Davis III led Southern Miss with 12 points. Kourtlin Jackson had a team-best five rebounds.
“I thought our guys gave good effort tonight,” Southern Miss coach Doc Sadler said. “We have to figure out a way to score the ball. Defensively, we did a good job, we held team to 59 points. We just have to figure some things out offensively.”
Southern Miss will face Southeastern Oklahoma State at 7 p.m. Dec. 29,
n Mississippi State will take on Northern Colorado: At Jackson, Mississippi State (5-5) will play Northern Colorado (3-8) for the first time at 7 tonight (SEC Network) at the Mississippi Coliseum.
The game will be a return home for MSU players Carter Holmes, Malik Newman, Fred Thomas, and Quinndary Weatherspoon and graduate assistant coach Jalen Courtney.
MSU is coming off a 69-59 victory against Tulane on Saturday. Newman had a team-high 15 points.
Northern Colorado is coming off a 79-76 loss at Jacksonville State on Monday.
MSU will return to action at 1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 31, against North Carolina Central at Humphrey Coliseum.
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