Jaylen Murray scored seven of his game-high 22 points in the final 2 1/2 minutes and Ole Miss stayed undefeated by defeating Memphis 80-77 on Saturday in Oxford, Miss.
Matthew Murrell added 20 points and Allen Flanigan had 18 for the Rebels (7-0).
David Jones scored 22, Malcolm Dandridge had 13 and Nick Jourdain added 10 for the Tigers (5-2).
The Tigers started their second-half scoring with consecutive three-point plays by Jahvon Quinerly and Jaykwon Walton to open a 43-32 lead.
TJ Caldwell and Murrell each made a 3-pointer to help the Rebels close within three points.
Jones made consecutive layups, but Ole Miss went on an 11-2 run to grab a 53-51 lead.
Ashton Hardaway’s 3-pointer put Memphis back on top and he made another jumper to push the lead to 65-59.
Flanigan scored eight points over a stretch and the Rebels took a one-point advantage. The lead changed hands twice — once on a 3-pointer by Murray — before Dandridge made a basket to tie the score at 75 with 1:24 left.
Murray’s jumper gave Ole Miss a two-point lead, but Dandridge made a tying layup.
Murray scored on a driving layup to give the Rebels a 79-77 lead with 18 seconds remaining.
Memphis missed a shot and Jaemyn Brakfield made one of two free throws for a three-point lead before the Tigers missed a 3-pointer in the final seconds.
Flanigan scored the first four points of Ole Miss’s 7-0 run to start the game.
Quinerly’s layup produced Memphis’ first points after more than two minutes and Jones scored the next seven points, giving the Tigers a 9-7 lead.
Flanigan’s layup pulled the Rebels within a point before Memphis scored nine straight for a 19-9 lead.
Ole Miss scored the next five points and Murrell’s 3-pointer trimmed the Tigers’ lead to 23-22.
The Rebels got within one point on two more occasions, but they went scoreless for the final 2:54 and Memphis increased its lead to 37-30 at halftime.
–Field Level Media