The Ole Miss Men’s Basketball team beat AP No. 14 Kentucky 98-84 at home on Tuesday, Feb. 4.
UK entered the game hoping to bounce back after a 10-point loss to former Coach John Calipari’s Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday. Despite this, the Wildcats have proven themselves as one of the better teams in the SEC, boasting wins against Florida, Tennessee and Mississippi State, as well as out-of-conference rival Louisville.
Last week, the Rebels narrowly defeated Texas at the Sandy and John Black Pavilion, then, on Saturday, lost a hard-fought game to AP No. 1 Auburn. Though the Rebs lost by double figures, they continued to battle until the very end, earning the AP No. 25 ranking this week.
This game, the Rebels — uncharacteristically — started fast. Forward Malik Dia made a pair of nice defensive plays, and the Rebs pushed the pace; forward Dre Davis scored five of the Rebs’ first seven points.
Five minutes into the game, down 15-7, UK Coach Mark Pope was forced to take a timeout. From there, the Wildcats gained their footing a bit, aided by some nifty moves from standout guard Otega Oweh. Defensively, Ole Miss remained active, forcing multiple shot clock violations, contesting shots and playing with active hands.
Pope was forced to burn another timeout toward the middle of the half following a dunk by forward Jaemyn Brakefield that put the Rebs ahead 31-18. Threes by Wildcat guards Koby Brea and Jaxson Robinson kept UK in the game, but a balanced scoring effort from the Rebs, led by excellent three-point shooting from guard Matthew Murrell, stifled a comeback.
At halftime, the Rebel lead had widened to 54-31. This was the most points the Rebs have scored in a half all season; eight players scored for Ole Miss. Also significantly, every Wildcat that clocked minutes had a negative +/-, and every Rebel had a positive +/-.
The Rebels wasted no time in the second half, making their first six field goals. However, the Wildcats began to test the Rebel defense, with Oweh, Robinson and forward Amari Williams scoring easily on backdoor cuts.
Slowly, the Wildcats began to creep back in. By the 12-minute mark, UK had cut the lead to 18. The Rebel defense became sloppy; they fouled three-point shooters two different times, one of which resulted in a four-point play for Robinson. By the under-eight minute TV timeout, the Rebel lead had shrunk to 13, 78-65.
From there, guard Jaylen Murray kept the Rebels in control, hitting a few big baskets including a contested three-pointer late in the shot clock. Davis hit another one of his signature step-backs from the low post; guard Sean Pedulla had a handful of strong drives and deft finishes at the rim.
By the last TV timeout, Ole Miss had maintained this lead, up 89-75. The Rebels closed out the game strong, defending well, breaking the press and hitting their free throws. They won 98-84. Murrell scored 24 points, and five Rebels finished in double figures.
