OXFORD – Ole Miss senior guard Jaylen Murray scored 12 of his team-high 18 points in the second half against Southern on Tuesday night, and the No. 17 Rebels defeated the Jaguars 74-61 at SJB Pavilion. It’s the fourth-straight victory for the Rebels (10-1).
Three Ole Miss players finished in double-figure scoring. Senior forward Jaemyn Brakefield scored 15 points off the bench, while senior guard Dre Davis scored 14 points, with nine coming in the first half. The Rebels entered the game leading the nation at just 8.1 turnovers per game but committed 17 on Tuesday.
“The rebounding game wasn’t up to our standard or what we’re going to have to do in the SEC to be competitive,” Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard said. “And then, 17 turnovers on our end was a season high. Obviously, we can’t play like that. But give the opponent credit – they’re fourth in the country in steals, they turn the opponent over 17 or 18 times (per game), and they did it again tonight. … We don’t feel like we played our best game, but I think the main reason is we just played a quality opponent. So, we’re pleased to win tonight.”
An early 8-0 run helped the Rebels jump out to a 13-4 lead, but the Jaguars rallied back to cut the deficit down to a point with 11:20 left in the half. Ole Miss finished the half on a 24-16 run and led by nine headed into the locker room.
Southern (5-5) scored the first eight points of the second half and again cut the Rebels’ lead down to one. But a 22-6 run – highlighted by a trio of Murray 3-pointers – gave Ole Miss some much-needed breathing room and a 17-point lead with less than eight minutes to play. After shooting 41.9% from the field in the first half, Southern shot just 33.3% from the field in the second.
Ole Miss hosts Queens Saturday at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network+.
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