OXFORD — Breein Tyree had a team-high 22 points, and Terence Davis had 20 points and a career-high nine assists Wednesday night to lead the Ole Miss men’s basketball team to a 93-86 victory against San Diego at The Pavilion at Ole Miss.
The Revels (4-2) had five players score in double figures on a night they shot 61.1 percent from the field, which is a record for the best shooting percentage in The Pavilion at Ole Miss.
Tyree led the charge by going 6-for-7 from the field and 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.
A balanced offense led to a record-breaking night and a win for the Ole Miss men’s basketball team Wednesday. Shooting 61.1 percent (33 of 54) from the field, the best by any team in the short history of The Pavilion, the Rebels (4-2) had five players score double digits in a 93-86 victory over a solid San Diego squad.
Freshmen KJ Buffen and Blake Hinson had career highs of 15 points. Sophomore guard Devontae Shuler had 13.
Ole Miss earned the victory thanks to a 20-for-23 effort from the free-throw line.
Isaiah Wright led San Diego (5-2) with 23 points. Isaiah Pineiro added 21 points, but he had only four points in the second half. Olin Carter III had 19.
Ole Miss led 39-37 at halftime. Coach Kermit Davis elected to put the Rebels in the 1-3-1 zone to begin the second half. The move forced several turnovers and allowed Ole Miss to push its lead to eight. The Toreros sliced their deficit in half before the Rebels went on a 10-0 run.
Bruce Stevens added a jumper in the paint to put the Rebels up 68-54 with 8 minutes, 33 seconds to go. Once again, San Diego cut the margin in half but it didn’t last long as the Rebels answered with a 7-0 run to grow their lead back to 14.
San Diego cut the deficit to six down the stretch, but Ole Miss converted from the free-throw line to seal the deal.
Ole Miss will play host to Louisiana-Monroe at 1 p.m. Saturday. For the first time, Ole Miss will wear its new powder blue jerseys.
n Southern Mississippi 71, South Alabama 67: At Hattiesburg, Cortez Edwards had 19 points, while Tyree Griffin and Leonard Harper-Baker had 18 points Wednesday night to help the Golden Eagles (5-2) match the school record for wins in November.
“We talked a lot before the game about passion and energy,” Southern Miss coach Doc Sadler said. “Unless you do anything with those two things, you aren’t going to be very good. We had not played with passion and energy at all in the past three games for whatever reason. The bottom line is it had gotten worse with every game.
“Tonight, I thought Leonard Harper-Baker came out and set the tone of the basketball game. I’m not sure this isn’t the best team that we’ve played. With the Kory Holden (of South Alabama) making his debut and hitting the five threes in the first half, and for us to give up 14 threes and only hit five, that’s a big difference for us to overcome, on top of us not making free throws. I’m just glad we came out and played with passion and energy.”
Harper-Baker was 6-for-8 from the field with nine rebounds.
Southern Miss sprinted to a 17-1 lead that closed to 43-36 at halftime. When both teams traded three-pointers in the first 43 seconds of the second half, there was no turning back from a classic.
The Jaguars took their first lead at 55-54 with 9:34 remaining. LaDavius Draine’s two free-throws with 4:24 left put the home team ahead 60-59, and it never trailed from there. Holden knocked down one of his eight 3-pointers (on just 10 attempts) to get USA within 63-62 at 2:26, but Southern Miss clamped down to make it 68-62 with 33 seconds remaining.
Southern Miss (5-2) will play host to Rust College at 2 p.m. Sunday at Reed Green Coliseum.
n Alabama will face UCF in first true road game: At Orlando, Florida, the Alabama men’s basketball team will take on UCF at 6 p.m. Thursday (ESPNU) in its first true road game of the season.
This is the second-consecutive season Alabama and UCF have squared off on the hardwood. Last season, UCF earned a 65-62 victory at Coleman Coliseum.
Alabama (5-1) will try to match the best start in the Avery Johnson era. On Monday, Alabama edged Murray State 78-72.
UCF (5-1) beat Northern Kentucky 66-53 on Saturday to stretch its winning streak to four.
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