Ole Miss Cruises Past Missouri

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) – Leading by two points with 9:37 remaining in the first half at Missouri on Saturday, Ole Miss’ Anthony Perez launched a 3-point attempt that bounced high off the back rim only to be palmed by teammate Stefan Moody in midair.

The 5-foot-10-inch junior dunked it with his right hand before landing on his feet and flexing his arms in front of the Tigers’ student section.

“I think that not only invigorated him but our whole team,” coach Andy Kennedy said after the Rebels won 67-47. “We see that quite often. He is a special player off the bounce.”

Ole Miss (14-7, 5-3 SEC) outscored the Tigers 50-32 the rest of the way, including runs of 8-0 and 7-0 in the first half to build a 37-25 lead at the break. The Rebels led by at least nine points throughout the closing 20 minutes.

Moody finished as the only Ole Miss player in double figures with 23 points, while Perez and M.J. Rhett each added eight. Martavious Newby grabbed nine rebounds.

Johnathan Williams III scored 14 points for Missouri (7-14, 1-7), which lost its seventh consecutive game for the first time since 1993. The Tigers, who lost 69-53 to No. 1 Kentucky about 40 hours before Saturday’s tipoff, shot just 19 of 61 (31.1 percent) from the field.

Ole Miss ranks first in the country with a 79.9 percent conversion rate from the free-throw line, and finished 13 of 15 as a team. Moody leads the SEC at a 90.7 percent clip and made all 10 of his attempts.

“I came out a lot more calm, and then I got the tip-slam and I just kind of went off of that,” Moody said.