Cameron Mathews and Tolu Smith led the way with 17 points each Saturday as visiting Mississippi State went overtime to survive an upset bid by Ole Miss, 69-61 in Oxford, Miss.
Smith scored 4 of his total points in the extra period and added 12 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season and 14th of his career. The Bulldogs (18-9, 6-8 Southeastern Conference) won for the sixth time in their last seven games to keep their NCAA Tournament bid hopes alive.
Dashawn Davis added 12 points with two coming on free throws with 17.3 seconds left in the game to secure the outcome and D.J. Jeffries added 10 as the Bulldogs swept the season series with the Rebels for the first time since the 2010-11 season. They won the first meeting 65-54 in Starkville.
Jaemyn Brakefield scored a game-high 20 points to lead Ole Miss (10-17, 2-12) which fell to 13th place in the conference.
No more than three points separated the teams in the second half as both struggled with shooting in the period. They were a combined 0-of-15 from 3-point range midway through the half until Brakefield drilled one to put Ole Miss 45-44 at the 10:01 mark.
After Jayveous McKinnis sank a pair of free throws to give Ole Miss a 54-52 lead with 1:06 remaining, Shakeel Moore tied the score with two free throws with 50.5 seconds left. Myles Burns and Smith exchanged layups to leave the teams tied at 56-56 at the end of regulation.
State managed to hang on despite turning the ball over a season-high 20 times in the game. The Bulldogs made just 7 of 27 from the field in the second half. Yet, the Rebels also struggled in the second half, going just 8-for-28 from the field.
The Bulldogs jumped out to 10-point lead less than five minutes into the game but the Rebels managed to get back within striking distance, trailing by just three at the half.
–Field Level Media