Ole Miss Rallies Past Mississippi State, Advances

ATLANTA (AP) – Marshall Henderson and Jarvis Summers each scored 21 points and Mississippi rallied from a deficit of 13 points to beat Mississippi State 78-66 in the second round of the SEC tournament on Thursday night.

Mississippi State scored the first 10 points of the game and kept the lead about 32 minutes. Ole Miss took its first lead at 57-56 with 8:11 remaining on a layup by Ladarius White.

Following a 59-59 tie, the Rebels pulled away as Henderson and Jarvis Summers combined for three straight 3-pointers.

Ole Miss (19-13), the defending Southeastern Conference tournament champion, will play Georgia in the quarterfinals on Friday night.

All of Henderson’s points came on seven 3-pointers.

Craig Sword and Fred Thomas each had 16 for the Bulldogs (14-19).

Mississippi State ended a 13-game losing streak by beating Vanderbilt 82-68 in the first round on Wednesday night.

It was only the second time the Bulldogs and Rebels played in the SEC tournament, following a 73-64 win over the Rebels in the 2003 tournament.

Mississippi State played like anything other than a No. 14 seed in the first half against their state rival Rebels. Led by Thomas, who made three of four 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes, the Bulldogs made six 3s in the half and led 44-35 at halftime.

Henderson, who averages more than four 3-pointers per game and has at least one 3 in an SEC-record 65 straight games, had a slow start. Henderson missed his first 3-point attempt and then was sent crashing to the court when his second attempt was blocked by Sword.

Henderson recovered to make three of 10 3s in the half.

The Bulldogs took their biggest lead at 51-38 early in the second half before the Rebels pulled within five at 51-46 with an 8-0 run capped by Henderson’s 3-pointer.

After White’s basket gave Ole Miss its first lead, there were two ties before the Rebels pulled ahead on a three-point play by Aaron Jones and a 3-pointer by Summers for a 65-60 lead.

Henderson then launched one of his trademark turnaround 3-pointers, stretching the lead to eight points. He launched yet another successful 3-pointer for a 71-60 lead.