It was a busy weekend in Mississippi college basketball.
By the final score of 78-72, the Ole Miss men were able to hand the Flordia Gators their first SEC loss of the season by overcoming an eight-point deficit in the second half. On Saturday Ole Miss was able to shoot 60% in the second half, while the Gators struggled to score especially in the final 7 minutes when they went just 2 of 13 from the floor. As leading scorer Terrence Davis continues to struggle, the Rebels were led in scoring by JUCO Transfer Bruce Stevens with 22 points.
Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy said that Stevens’ effort helped to make the difference in the win.
“When Bruce got on the floor for loose balls, we win the loose balls 50/50 battle 10-6, we are pretty efficient there. We shot 10 more balls in the paint, just trying to get the ball close to the basket and didn’t settle. Bruce is getting more experienced, and he is the guy we are trying to go through,” Kennedy said.
The Rebels are now 10-7 on the year and will travel to face Texas A&M on Tuesday.
The Mississippi State men have now lost three straight as they fell to Auburn 76-68 at home. The Bulldogs led by as many as 13 in the second half, but weren’t able to hang as Auburn got hot. MSU was outscored 55-33 in the second half and now need to find a way to get back to their winning formula from earlier in the season. Quinndary Weatherspoon had a team-high 14 points in the loss. Head coach Ben Howland says the way the Bulldogs played in the first half makes the loss that much tougher.
Head coach Ben Howland says the way the Bulldogs played in the first half makes the loss that much tougher.
“That’s a tough loss considering how well we played in the first half,” Howland said after the game. “It was the best first half we played this season, and it was against a talented team. They hit some really big 3-point shots. To start the second half, we were a little more stagnant on offense.”
MSU is 13-4 and will host Vanderbilt on Tuesday.
The Southern Miss men dropped their 10th game of the year by falling to Middle Tennesse 69-49. The Golden Eagles never found their rhythm as they shot just under 35 percent for the game. Their 3-18 performance from beyond the arc was also part of the problem on offense.
Southern Miss is 9-10 and will face Rice on Thursday.
In the women’s game, The MSU Bulldogs remained undefeated with a 75-61 win over Alabama. This was the team’s 11th straight win by double-digits. The Bulldogs are now 19-0 and ranked as the #4 team in the country. Victoria Vivians led the way in the win with 21 points. Things get much more difficult for MSU as they will soon take on the gauntlet of SEC foes with #6 Tennessee, #12 Missouri and #9 South Carolina.
While the schedule gets more difficult, head coach Vic Schaefer says getting to this point shows toughness.
“It’s hard to be 19-0 in this league,” Schaefer told ESPN. “We’ve played an incredibly tough schedule, but you know what, we’ve played it with some incredibly tough kids.”
The MSU women will face #6 Tennessee on the road on Sunday the 21st.
The Golden Eagle women were able to beat Louisiana Tech 65-50. The win brings their record to 9-7 on the year.
USM will travel to UAB on Thursday.
*The Ole Miss women (11-6) did not play this weekend and will be in action against Missouri on Thursday.
