National Basketball Association
Mississippi 70, Middle Tennessee St. 51
When: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 16, 2020
Where: Murphy Athletic Center, Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Officials:
# Brent Hampton, # Olandis Poole, # Gerry Polland
Attendance:
100
By Field Level Media
The Ole Miss Rebels stayed perfect on the season when they took to the road for the first time and beat the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders 70-51 in Murfreesboro, Tenn., on Wednesday night.
Ole Miss was led by Romello White, who had 16 points and six rebounds. KJ Buffen had 11 points and seven rebounds.
Dontrell Shuler had 19 points to lead Middle Tennessee, beating out his older brother, Devontae, who scored 10 for Ole Miss -- 10 below his season average.
Tyler Millin had 12 points and eight rebounds for the Blue Raiders.
As it has all season long, it was defense that propelled Ole Miss to the win. The Rebels held Middle Tennessee to 29.8 percent field-goal shooting, forced 19 turnovers and had 11 steals. Ole Miss converted those turnovers into 22 points.
The Rebels, who were playing their fourth game in seven days, launched to a quick start as it led 13-2 after the first six minutes. During that span, the Blue Raiders were 0-for-6 from the floor and had six turnovers.
Middle Tennessee hung with Ole Miss for the rest of the half, but found itself down 32-22 at the intermission.
White led all scorers with 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor in the first half for the Rebels.
The first 20 minutes featured sloppy play by both teams as the Blue Raiders had 11 turnovers and Ole Miss nine.
The second 20 minutes saw the Rebels use their tight defense to steadily pull away and get the win.
Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis returned to the place where he spent 16 seasons. During those years, Davis' Blue Raiders teams went 332-188 and earned three trips to the NCAA Tournament.
Davis is 3-0 against the school at which he became its all-time winningest coach.
The game closed out a four-game homestead for Middle Tennessee.
The Rebels will hit the road to play Dayton -- which beat Vanderbilt on Wednesday -- on Saturday while the Blue Raiders will play Bellarmine in a home-and-home series on Saturday and Tuesday.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Mississippi |
|
Middle Tennessee St. |
|
Romello White 16 |
Scoring |
Dontrell Shuler 19 |
|
KJ Buffen 2 |
Assists |
Jordan Davis 2 |
|
KJ Buffen 7 |
Rebounds |
Tyler Millin 8 |
|
KJ Buffen 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Dontrell Shuler 5 |
|
Luis Rodriguez 3 |
Steals |
Jordan Davis 2 |
|
KJ Buffen 1 |
Blocks |
DeAndre Dishman 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Mississippi
|
70 |
54.9 |
2-14 |
12-19 |
7 |
33 |
2 |
11 |
17 |
| Middle Tennessee St.
|
51 |
29.8 |
5-22 |
12-15 |
4 |
29 |
2 |
5 |
19 |
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