MISSION ACCOMPLISHED Bulldogs secure overtime win over Rebels for season sweep
OXFORD – Both the Mississippi State Bulldogs and Ole Miss Rebels knew what it was going to take to win Saturday afternoon's matchup against each other at the SJB Pavilion.
MSU was able to accomplish its goal, while Ole Miss came up short.
The Bulldogs never let the Rebels take a big enough lead where they couldn't come back, made enough plays down the stretch of regulation to get the game into overtime and were able to secure a 69-61 victory in a grind-it-out battle between two rivals.
“This game could have gone either way,” MSU head coach Chris Jans said.
Ole Miss had a three-point advantage three times in the second half and was up by two points at 56-54 with 38 seconds remaining.
Tolu Smith made a layup for the Bulldogs within the final 30 seconds and that was good enough to send the game into overtime.
“We had a chance at the end,” Rebel head coach Kermit Davis said. couldn't get stops.”
Once in overtime, MSU seized control. Dashawn Davis hit the first basket in the extra session to put the Bulldogs up 58-56, then D.J. Jeffries may have hit the biggest shot of the game when his 3-point field goal with 3:22 remaining stretched the margin to 61-56.
“It felt good and gave us a little push,” Jeffries said of his key 3-pointer.
Davis scored another basket in the lane and hit a pair of free throws along with Cameron Matthews to help
“We just
MSU complete the eightpoint win.
It was the first time that the Bulldogs have been able to sweep the season series against the Rebels since the 2010-11 season and it was a satisfying situation for Matthews, who is an Olive Branch native.
“I just knew we needed stops and execute our sets,” Matthews said about what it took to finish the game. “It's my first time to sweep them so it feels pretty good.”
Matthews scored a basket and free throw as MSU jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the first half, then it stretched the margin to nine points at 13-4 at the 15:42 mark with a score by Shawn Jones Jr.
After Ole Miss cut the lead to 14-11 in the first half, the Bulldogs went on a 5-0 run and stretched the margin to 19-11 on 3-pointer by Jeffries with 11:40 remaining in the first half.
The Rebels refused to let its rival run away and went on a run down the stretch of the first half and took a trio of one-point leads with the last coming at the half 33-32.
Jeffries knew it wasn't going to be easy to come into Ole Miss' house and have success, but MSU had the certain element necessary to pull it off.
“It just shows toughness,” Jeffries said. “Coming into a hostile environment against a rival, they had us down by two. We came back in overtime and beat them. It just shows the toughness of the team.”
Smith had a double- double for the Bulldogs with 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Matthews also had 17 points. Davis contributed 12 points and Jeffries added 10 points.
With the victory, MSU improved its records to 18-9 overall and 6-8 in the Southeastern Conference. The Bulldogs were scheduled to hit the road again on Tuesday to Missouri.