No. 24 Ole Miss holds off Grambling State 66-64 with second-half rally

OXFORD, Miss. — Dre Davis scored 13 points, Sean Pedulla added 12 points and four assists and No. 24 Mississippi rallied from a 12-point second half deficit to hold off Grambling State 66-64 Friday night.

Ole Miss (2-0) used a 20-0 second-half run to take a 47-39 lead, but Grambling State (1-1) cut it to 64-63 on two free throws by Mikale Stevenson with 4 seconds left.

Jaylen Murray was fouled and made two free throws for a 3-point lead, and the Rebels fouled to prevent the Tigers from attempting a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Murray scored 10 points for the Rebels.

Stevenson scored 16 points, Kintavious Dozier had 15 points and Ernest Ross added 14 for Grambling State. The Tigers led 33-25 at halftime.

Takeaways

Grambling State: The unheralded Tigers have won 45 games over the past two seasons, a Southwest Athletic Conference crown and an NCAA Tournament game. The non-conference schedule is top heavy, but coach Donte’ Jackson’s spirited crew looks to be the team to beat in the SWAC.

Mississippi: Chris Beard continued to experiment with multiple offensive and defensive combinations as 10 players got significant playing time. The Rebels have depth and scoring on the perimeter, but there is room for improvement in the rebounding category.

Key moment

Trailing 39-27, the Rebels went on a 20-0 run over in six minutes to build a 47-39 cushion with 11 minutes remaining. Davis had eight consecutive points to open the decisive burst.

Key stat

Ole Miss shot 14 of 18 from the free-throw line in the second half and forced 22 turnovers. Grambling State outrebounded the Rebels 39-33.

Up next

Grambling State completes an SEC road doubleheader at No. 21 Florida Monday, and Ole Miss hosts South Alabama on Tuesday.