NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Good things happen when the Ole Miss men’s basketball team keeps its turnovers low.
That’s been the case lately for the Rebels, who made only eight turnovers in an 81-74 victory against Vanderbilt on Saturday.
“Our issue all season, and the reason we’re in (this) dilemma, is because we turn the ball over,” Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. “We were leading the league in turnovers at almost 16 a game, but the last three games we’ve had under 10, which gives us an opportunity to fight through some of those offensive struggles as it relates to shooting early.”
Ole Miss (14-9, 5-5 SEC) won its second-straight game since a 78-75 loss to No. 5 Baylor.
The Rebels came out cold against Vanderbilt (11-12, 4-6), shooting 29 percent from the floor while falling behind 32-27 at halftime.
Ole Miss heated up in the second half, shooting 56 percent from the field and 7 of 9 from 3-point range in a comeback win.
The Rebels’ Sebastian Saiz recorded his Southeastern Conference-leading 16th double-double with 16 rebounds and 10 points. Deandre Burnett and Terence Davis scored 17 points, and Justas Furmanavicius and Breein Tyree had 11 for the Rebels, who have won six of their last seven against the Commodores.
“I feel like we’re making better decisions — jump, stop and pass like we work in the practices,” said Furmanavicius, a 6-foot-7 forward from Lithuania. “We’re reversing the ball more and moving the ball more, so I feel like that’s decreasing the turnovers.”
Jeff Roberson led Vanderbilt with a career-high 21 points, including three 3-pointers. Vanderbilt made 14 3-pointers and Ole Miss nine.
“I think we had a chance in the first half to kind of put them away early and get some momentum, and we didn’t do that,” said Roberson, a 6-6 forward from Houston. “In the second half, they came out and got some momentum, and kind of just kept building on that. And once they got rolling, it was hard to stop them.”
Luke Kornet, who became the NCAA’s all-time top 3-point-shooting 7-footer Tuesday, pulled the Commodores within 77-74 with his fourth 3-pointer with 24.7 seconds left. With at least two NBA scouts at the game, the 7-foot-1 senior scored 18 points and raised his career 3-pointer total to 136.
Matthew Fisher-Davis added 13 points for the Commodores, who had won three of their previous four.
Ole Miss built an 11-point lead late in the game, but Vanderbilt rallied and pulled to within 68-65 on consecutive 3-pointers by Nolan Cressler and Joe Toye with 2:25 left.
After Vanderbilt got within one, the Rebels made four straight 3-pointers during a 12-2 run to give Ole Miss a 60-49 lead with 7:17 left.
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