MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A poor shooting start proved too much for Ole Miss to overcome Saturday night at Memphis, as the Rebels fell 68-57 to the Tigers at FedExForum. The Rebels shot just 24% from the field in the first half and, at one point, went more than eight minutes without making a field goal.
It is the second straight loss for the Rebels (6-2), who fell in the championship game of the ESPN Events Invitational last weekend to Oklahoma. Ole Miss and the Tigers (6-2) have split their last two meetings, as the Rebels won a 67-63 thriller in Oxford last season.
Ole Miss trailed by 22 in the first half but cut the Memphis lead to eight with 1:52 left in regulation. The Rebels’ defense clamped down the Tigers following their hot start, holding Memphis to just 31.4 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes.
Junior guard Matthew Murrell — a Memphis native — led the Rebels with 13 points, with eight coming in the second half.
“They dominated the game (early). We settled early in offensive possessions, couldn’t do anything around the rim,” Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis said. “ … Give Memphis credit, but proud of our team the last 30 minutes. It’s just one of those things, we have to get back to (final) exams and grow from it. A lot of basketball ahead.”
Saturday night marked the return of star sophomore guard Daeshun Ruffin, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last February. After being cleared for workouts in a few weeks before the season began, Ruffin suffered a bone bruise right before the season opener. Ruffin scored three points in 14 minutes in his season debut.
Ole Miss started the game 2 of 18 from the field and trailed by 22 points with 7:41 to play in the first half. The Rebels found a bit of an offensive rhythm late in the period, twice cutting the deficit down to 14 — including right before halftime — to breathe a bit of life into the visiting team.
The Rebels cut the lead down to 10 early in the second half, though the Tigers quickly stretched the lead back up to 17. Ole Miss again trimmed the deficit down to 11 and then to nine with a three-point play from senior forward Theo Akwuba.
After a made free throw from Memphis, a dunk from Akwuba brought the Tigers’ lead down to eight. That was as close as the Rebels would get, however, as Memphis hit three late free throws to seal the game.
Akwuba and senior forward Myles Burns each finished with 10 points.
“I know we have a resilient group that’s going to play. It’s such a long season, man. It just is. Give Memphis credit, their night, great crowd. They got off to this unbelievable start, we hung in there.”
Ole Miss hosts Valparaiso at 2 p.m. next Saturday.
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