Ole Miss emptied its tank, clawing its way back from a 13-point first quarter deficit amid a superb offensive night, but ended up falling just short as Florida edged out a 74-72 win at Exactech Arena on Thursday night.
The Gators (13-11, 4-7 SEC) took early command of the game, opening on a 9-0 run in a blistering first quarter that saw a 7-of-8 line from the field and a 3-of-3 line from deep by the first media timeout, but that was before a resilient Rebel squad dug deep and found an offensive rhythm. Deja Cage (23 points, five rebounds, four assists), Mimi Reid (16 points, four assists, one rebound) and Taylor Smith (15 points, five rebounds) combined for 54 points tonight, 35 of which came in the second half alone.
Ole Miss (7-17, 0-11 SEC) hopes to hold onto this momentum as it returns home to host No. 23 Arkansas (19-5, 7-4 SEC) in a nationally televised contest on SEC Network on Sunday, with tipoff set for 2 p.m. inside The Pavilion.
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