Ole Miss Falls at LSU Despite Career-High from Moody

BATON ROUGE, La. (WCBI/AP) — Craig Victor scored 18 points, Ben Simmons added 11 of his 15 points in the second half, and LSU defeated Mississippi 90-81 on Wednesday night.

Antonio Blakeney emerged from a recent shooting slump, scoring 15 points, his most in a game in nearly two months. He scored 13 of his points in the second half to help LSU (10-6, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) surge in front for good inside the final five minutes.

Stefan Moody scored a career-high 33 points for Ole Miss (12-4, 2-2), which led for much of the second half before being outscored 34-19 during the final 9:19.

(Photo: (USATSI)

Rasheed Brooks added 18 points and Sebastain Saiz 13 for the Rebels.

Tim Quarterman had 14 points for LSU, 12 in the second half as he combined with Blakeney to score 25 of the Tigers’ last 34 points.

Blakeney’s 3 gave LSU an 83-78 lead with 2:31 left.

Anthony Perez, who had 10 points for Ole Miss, was called for an intentional foul on Victor away from the ball with 1:07 to go, and Victor hit a free throw to make it 88-81, with the Tigers keeping the ball. Moody then fouled Quarterman, whose free throws concluded the scoring for the night.

Ole Miss led for the first 12 minutes of the second half, but never by more than six. The Rebels were up 62-56 on Martavious Newby’s layup with 10:41 to go, then LSU responded with methodical 10-2 run that included a 3 and layup by Quarterman. Blakeney closed that surge with three free throws after he was fouled on a missed 3, giving the Tigers their first lead of the half at 66-64.

The Rebels led much of the game thanks to Moody, whose first 12 points came on four 3s within the first 9 minutes, the fourth giving Ole Miss a 22-16 lead.

The Rebels held a 32-26 lead on Perez’s layup before LSU surged into the lead with a 9-0 run capped by Josh Gray’s free throws and his 3-pointer, putting the Tigers up 35-32.

Ole Miss regrouped after a timeout and went on a 9-0 run of its own, highlighted by Tomasz Gielo’s 3 and Perez’s dunk.

LSU managed to trim the Rebels’ lead to 43-40 by halftime on Jalyn Patterson’s 3-pointer.

—

TIP-INS

Mississippi: Moody has now scored 30 or more three times this season. He has failed to score at least 20 only twice in 16 games this season. … Brooks, who came in with a scoring average of 7.9 points per game, reached double-digit points for the third straight game. … Ole Miss fell to 4-2 on the road.

LSU: The Tigers improved to 9-1 at home, the only previous loss coming against Wake Forest Dec. 29. … Blakeney hadn’t scored more than 14 points since his 22-point night against South Alabama on Nov. 19. … Patterson, who had five points, made his fourth start of the season in place of Blakeney, while Gray, who had seven points, made his third start in place of Quarterman.

UP NEXT

Mississippi: Hosts Florida on Saturday.

LSU: Hosts Arkansas on Saturday.