No. 19 Ole Miss did what it needed to do against South Carolina to come home with a win, but it was far from pretty.
The Rebels led 42-32 at halftime, but faltered in the second half and allowed the Gamecocks to tie take the lead back, 58-57, with seven minutes left in the game.
💪💪💪@malikkdia x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/RWUZyse4ag
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) February 13, 2025
Malik Dia put the Rebels back ahead 69-66 with 2:04 on a wide-open three-pointer, but South Carolina’s Jacobi Wright closed the gap to within one point on the next possession.
The rest of the game continued to see both sides exchange the lead until Dre Davis stole an errant pass by South Carolina’s Collin Murray-Boyles. Davis then put the Rebels up 71-68 with 22 seconds left after a tough layup.
Following a South Carolina, the Gamecocks ended up throwing the ball out-of-bounds with 6.8 seconds left. The Gamecocks would send the Rebels to the charity stripe where Jaemyn Brakefield made one of two free throws to secure a 72-68 win for Ole Miss.
Stretching the Floor 0️⃣@malikkdia x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/7hYIXlxlsK
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) February 13, 2025
Dia ended up leading Ole Miss in scoring with 18 points and Brakefield was second with 14 points off the bench. Davis added 12 points of his own and Matthew Murrell had 10.
Next up for Ole Miss is a very difficult six-game stretch to the end of the regular season. The Rebels host No. 22 Mississippi State on Saturday to begin the six-game stretch, followed by a road trips to Vanderbilt (who is 12-2 at home) and No. 1 Auburn in back-to-back games.
Ole Miss will then host Oklahoma and No. 5 Tennessee before ending the regular season at No. 3 Florida.
