It was a tough day for the Mississippi State and Ole Miss men’s basketball teams on the opening day of SEC play.
After having a successful start to the season against nonconference opponents, the Bulldogs (11-3) and the No. 22 Rebels (13-1) began a slate of matches against conference foes on the wrong end of the scoreboard.
Mississippi State
Second-year MSU head coach Chris Jans’ group came into Saturday’s game against South Carolina (13-1) on a five-game win streak following a wake-up call loss to Southern University. However, a hard-fought battle in favor of the Gamecocks would ultimately end the Bulldogs’ run of victories.
The Bulldogs opened things up on an 11-3 run and led for most of the first half, but South Carolina, led by Meechie Johnson, countered and surpassed MSU on the scoreboard within the last two minutes to lead 30-28 at the intermission.
The second half was a slugfest between the two teams with the Bulldogs tying things up on two different occasions, but Lamont Paris’ team never allowed MSU to reclaim the lead.
Things got interesting in the final two minutes of play. The Bulldogs turned a six-point South Carolina lead into a two points as the clock winded down, but an ill-opportune turnover by Dashawn Davis on a potential game-winning drive forced MSU to send a good free throw shooter Johnson to the charity stripe with seven seconds left.
Another shot at a miracle comeback ended with D.J. Jeffries turning the ball over, ultimately putting Johnson back on the free throw line to give the Gamecocks a 68-62 advantage when the clock hit zero.
Poor three-point shooting and rebounding difficulties by the Bulldogs kept the team from being able to overcome their opponent on the road. MSU shot 23.1% from beyond the arc and was outrebounded by nine boards.
Senior center Tolu Smith, in his second game back in action, and freshman guard Josh Hubbard led the Bulldogs in scoring with 13 points a piece. Cameron Matthews and Davis had the most rebounds with five each.
MSU will continue SEC play at home on Wednesday against No. 5 Tennessee at 6 p.m. CT.
Ole Miss
The Rebels entered Saturday’s contest as one of only two undefeated teams remaining in the nation. However, first-year head coach Chris Beard’s squad was outmatched and overwhelmed by Tennessee (11-3) in front of a sold-out crowd in Knoxville.
Ole Miss kept things competitive in the first half, going on a couple of runs to stay within arms reach of the Volunteers, but a pair of triples hit by Jahmai Mashack in the last 30 seconds of the half gave Rick Barnes’ team all the momentum with a 40-31 lead at halftime.
The second half completely belonged to Tennessee. The Volunteers, led by big man Jonas Aidoo, punished the Rebels’ pair of seven-footers down low all game, which opened up three-point opportunities for Tenessee to post a dominant 90-64 win.
Though both teams shot at similar percentages, Tennessee out-rebounded the Rebels 47-24, giving the Volunteers multiple second and even third chance opportunities offensively.
Senior forward Jaemyn Brakefield was the brightest spot for Ole Miss in the blowout loss. The Jackson native scored 22 points, hitting seven of eight shots from the floor, and shooting a perfect 100% from beyond the arc. Senior guard Jaylen Murray, standing at five-foot-nine, led the team in rebounding with eight boards.
Next up for the Rebels is a Wednesday night home match against Florida. The game will tip off at 8 p.m. CT.
