On Tuesday night, the Mississippi State Men’s Basketball team traveled to rival Ole Miss for another heated SEC matchup. With a record attendance of 10,630 in the Sandy and John Black Pavilion, it was obvious that the environment would play a huge factor in who would win the game, and that it did. Ole Miss rode the energy and electricity from the crowd on its way to an 86-82 down-to-the-wire victory.
The Rebels returned to their home court after pulling off a nail-biter win in College Station, Texas, defeating Texas A&M 71-68, improving Ole Miss’ conference record to 4-3. With MSU on the docket, Ole Miss had a lot to prove, as the Bulldogs had beaten two teams — Tennessee and Auburn — who had demolished Ole Miss. The at-the-time top-10 wins shined on MSU’s resume, and they were daunting results for Ole Miss fans.
The game itself was a back-and-forth affair for the full 40 minutes in which both teams took turns taking the lead until the final seconds.
Two players on the Rebel roster stood out: guards Matthew Murrell and Jaylen “JuJu” Murray. In the first half, Murray recorded eight points for the Rebels, and Murrell led the way with 11 points.
It was a fast and aggressive battle to the end of the first half, and heading into the second period, the score was tied 39-39.
Eventually, the switch flipped, and Ole Miss started to play like the better team. After coming out strong leading by 10 in the early minutes of the second half and maintaining control to the last buzzer, Ole Miss’ stars shone brightly in front of a packed-out Pavillion crowd.
Murrell and Murray became irreplaceable assets in this win, with Murray recording 20 points and Murrell leading with 21 points. Despite Mississippi State catching up in the end, hanging onto a two-point difference in the last few plays, the Rebels hung on to their rivalry win and gave those repping maroon a sad sendoff.
This win over the Bulldogs puts Ole Miss at an overall 18-3 and a 5-3 conference record. The Rebels will host No. 16 Auburn on Saturday, Feb 5. Tipoff is slated for 5 p.m., and the game will air on SEC Network.
