Ole Miss Rallies to Defeat Mississippi State, 79-73

OXFORD, Miss. (WCBI/AP) — Jarvis Summers scored 22 points — all in the second half — to lead Mississippi past Mississippi State 79-73 on Wednesday night.

Ole Miss (13-7, 4-3 Southeastern Conference) won despite trailing for most of the game, including 45-32 early in the second half. The Rebels have won four in a row at home against the Bulldogs.

Stefan Moody scored 14 points and LaDarius White added 12 for Ole Miss.Mississippi State (9-11, 2-5) lost despite shooting 55.6 percent (30 of 54) from the field. Craig Sword scored a season-high 27 points, making 10 of 13 shots from the field. Gavin Ware added 12 points and I.J. Ready had 10.

(AP/Thomas Graning)

The Bulldogs have lost two in a row.

Summers made the key play of the game with 3:16 remaining, draining a 3-pointer while being fouled. He completed the four-point play to give the Rebels a 71-65 lead.

It was the 250th game in the long-running rivalry, but only Mississippi State looked interested in the outcome for much of the evening.

The Bulldogs stunned the crowd at Tad Smith Coliseum by hitting six of its first seven shots on the way to a 13-2 lead. Mississippi State hasn’t been a good shooting team for much of the season, but jumper after jumper fell when the Ole Miss defense backed off and dared the Bulldogs to try from long range.

Sword, a 6-foot-3 guard, played his best game of the year, hitting from long range and slicing to the basket for easy buckets. He led the Bulldogs in scoring last season, but has been limited this year after having back surgery in October.

Ole Miss would respond with its own 17-2 run later in the first half to briefly take the lead, but Mississippi State recovered for a 32-28 advantage at halftime.

The Bulldogs were far from finished. They took a 45-32 lead on a jumper by Ready with 16:29 remaining, getting consistently good looks against a tentative, undisciplined Ole Miss defense.

The Rebels recovered just in time. Little-used reserve Anthony Perez nailed a 3-pointer to tie the game at 60 with 6:16 remaining and Dwight Coleby hit two free throws to with 5:42 left to give Ole Miss its first lead of the second half.

Summers was clutch during the late-game rally, making 12 of 15 from the free-throw line and also dishing seven assists.

TIP-INS

Mississippi State: The Bulldogs were hurt by 16 turnovers on Wednesday. The Rebels had only six.

Ole Miss: The Rebels came into the game shooting 80 percent on free throws, which ranks first in the nation. That mark would also lead the NBA. Ole Miss was 29 of 37 (78.4 percent) from the line on Wednesday.

UP NEXT

Mississippi State hosts LSU on Saturday.

Ole Miss travels to play Missouri on Saturday.