OXFORD — The 2024-25 season hasn’t been the easiest of Ole Miss senior guard Matthew Murrell’s storied career. But on nights like Tuesday, the Memphis native couldn’t help but smile postgame.
Murrell, a fifth-year player who is among the most prolific scorers in Rebels history, has been dealing with a lower-body injury for much of this season that caused him to miss four games. After logging nine 20-point performances in 2023-24, Murrell had yet to meet that threshold this season. According to head coach Chris Beard, Murrell has been living in the training room in an effort to get his body right.
When his teammates needed him most against No. 14 Kentucky, the star guard shined as brightly as he has all year.
Murrell scored a season-high 24 points on Tuesday against the Wildcats and, on the shoulders of a stellar first half on both ends of the floor, No. 25 Ole Miss jumped out to a 27-point lead against the Wildcats and withstood their second-half offensive explosion in a 98-84 win at SJB Pavilion.
“It’s like finally getting your head above water,” Murrell said with a smile. “But you just have to keep working, keep building from it, take this confidence into the next game.”
It is Ole Miss’ first win over Kentucky in nearly four years and just the 15th win in 126 meetings. The 98 points scored is the second-most for Ole Miss this season. Tuesday was the Rebels’ (17-6, 6-4 SEC) second win over a ranked team this season.
Ole Miss had 24 assists to just one turnover in the game, and five different Ole Miss players finished with at least 10 points. The Rebels made 13 3-pointers overall, tied for their second-most in a game this season.
“I … didn’t enjoy our defense in the second half, but I thought our offense just kept us alive,” Beard said. “And, we talked the other day about Auburn making some timely plays in big moments, they seemed to have an answer every time. And I would think that tonight, offensively, we had an answer.”
The Rebels struck early and often from deep in the first half, hitting three 3-pointers in the game’s first five minutes and nine in the first overall en route to a commanding 54-31 halftime lead. Ole Miss, who came in averaging 8.8 3-pointers per game, finished the final 4:17 of the half on a 15-3 run and shot 61% from the field in the first, all while holding the nation’s No. 3 scoring offense to just under 39% shooting. Murrell scored 14 first-half points while junior forward Malik Dia and senior forward Jaemyn Brakefield each had 10.
The Wildcats (15-7, 4-5) seemingly couldn’t miss in the second half, scoring 53 points on a scorching 63% from the field. Kentucky hit its first six shots of the half but actually lost ground, as the Rebels made six of their first seven and upped their lead to as many as 27.
Kentucky used a 24-10 run to cut the deficit down to 11, however, with 7:43 to play. Senior guard Jaylen Murray hit a much-needed 3-pointer to help the Rebels regain a bit of momentum and, with the lead down to 12 a few minutes later, Murray hit a short jumper to give his team additional breathing room. After a pair of free throws got Kentucky to within 11 once again with 1:20 to play, the Rebels hit all six free throw tries to close out the game.
Senior guard Dre Davis scored 17 points while Dia and Brakefield had 16 points and 10 points, respectively. Murray finished with 15 points and a season-high 10 assists.
“First, I want to acknowledge my man Matt. He (has) been going through a lot these past couple weeks … just trying to just get his body right,” Murray said. “In reality, man, it was Matt tonight … I was finding him, he was hitting big-time shots. That’s where we (were) going.”
Ole Miss plays at LSU Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.
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