Ole Miss Struggles In Athens For First SEC Road Test

ATHENS, Ga. (WCBI/AP) – Graduate student Juwan Parker came off the bench to score a career-high 18 points and claim a career-high 11 rebounds to lead Georgia to a 71-60 win over Ole Miss in a Southeastern Conference contest on Wednesday night.

Yante Maten scored 15 points and Derek Ogbeide 14 for Georgia (10-3, 1-1).

Breein Tyree led Ole Miss (8-6, 1-1) with 17 points.

Parker is a fifth-year senior who has already earned his master’s degree. He scored the first double-double of his career. Parker got extra minutes because freshman starter Rayshaun Hammonds fouled out in just eight minutes.

Ole Miss came in making 10.2 3 pointers per game over the last five game, but struggled in the first half from beyond the arc, hitting four of 13 long-range attempts as Georgia pushed to a 39-31 halftime margin.

The Bulldogs outscored the Rebels 18-10 in the paint in the first half. During a 13-3 run midway in the half, Georgia got consecutive back-door dunks by Maten and Derek Ogbeide and a putback by Maten, giving the Bulldogs a 17-11 lead.

Ole Miss responded with a 9-0 run, mostly scoring inside to tie it at 26 with 3:45 to go after a driving layup by Breein Tyree.

But Georgia closed out the half with a 10-3 advantage. Maten scored the last seven points on a dunk, two free throws, and layup and free throw. He had 14 points at intermission. Teammate Jordan Harris came off the bench to score 10 first-half points.

The Rebels’ long-range shooting did not improve in the second half as they missed their first eleven from beyond the arc as Georgia built a double-digit lead. Emblematic of their frustration was a desperate 3-point heave by Georgia’s Parker as the shot clock was winding down. He missed, but was fouled and made all three free throws to put the Bulldogs up 51-40 with 13:26 to go.

Parker hit back-to-back 3s to boost Georgia to a 62-48 lead with 5:50 to go. His 3s ended an 0-for-7 drought by the Bulldogs.

Tyree tried to rally Ole Miss single-handedly, hitting two 3s and a driving layup, cutting the margin to 68-60 with 1:39 to play.

But after he missed another layup off a Georgia turnover, Parker hit another long-range bomb to ice the game.

Up next for Ole Miss, a home contest against Mississippi State, Saturday, January 6th, at 3:30 PM CT.