College basketball roundups: Ole Miss bounces back with win vs. South Carolina

Published 10:41 pm Saturday, March 4, 2017

OXFORD (AP) — Sebastian Saiz scored 21 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead Mississippi past South Carolina, 75-70, on Saturday night.

Breein Tyree added 19 points for Ole Miss (19-12, 10-8 in the Southeastern Conference), Justas Furmanavicius had 12 and Cullen Neal finished 11.

Ole Miss led by as many as 20 points early in the second half before South Carolina charged back. The Gamecocks got within four points before Neal knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Rebels some breathing room.

South Carolina closed to within four points twice more in the final minutes as the Rebels missed four of their final six free throws but the Gamecocks couldn’t close the gap.

Earlier, Ole Miss broke open a tight game and built an eight-point lead late in the first half, thanks to consecutive 3-pointers from Rasheed Brooks and a free throw from Saiz. The Rebels, courtesy of a baseline jumper from Tyree in the final seconds of the first half, led by 11 at intermission.

SEC player of the year candidate Sindarius Thornwell led South Carolina (22-9, 12-6) with 25 points, P.J. Dozier had 13, and Hassani Gravett and Duane Notice had 10 apiece.

BIG PICTURE

South Carolina: The Gamecocks are likely headed to the NCAA tournament regardless of what happens next week at the SEC tournament. However, the loss at Ole Miss, while not a black mark, won’t help their seeding.

Ole Miss: The Rebels likely have no hope of an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Saturday’s win probably helped their National Invitation Tournament resume.

UP NEXT

South Carolina: The Gamecocks have a bye until Friday in Nashville. South Carolina will face Alabama, LSU or Mississippi State in the SEC tournament quarterfinals.

Ole Miss: The Rebels will play the Auburn-Missouri winner on Thursday night in the SEC tournament in Nashville.

MISSISSIPPI STATE 88, LSU 76

STARKVILLE (AP) — Quinndary Weatherspoon had 18 points as Mississippi State snapped a seven-game losing streak with a win over LSU on Saturday.

Weatherspoon was 8 of 11 from the field and led a balanced scoring attack for the Bulldogs. Aric Holman and Xavian Stapleton each had 14 points for Mississippi State (15-15 overall, 6-12 SEC) in the regular-season finale.

The 15 wins mark the most by Mississippi State since the 2011-12 season.

“Happy we got the win and that was sorely needed after the long losing streak,” said Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland. “I can’t remember if I’ve ever been part of seven losses in a row so that is a monkey off our back.

“It was great to see I.J. Ready go out like that and I thought Xavian Stapleton gave us great minutes off the bench.”

As Mississippi State’s lone senior honored on Senior Day, Ready had a career-high 13 assists. The 13 assists are the most by an SEC player this year.

LSU shot 44.1 percent for the game and were outrebounded 39-32. The Tigers made just 5 of 19 beyond the arc and had 11 turnovers.

Mississippi State shot 54.5 percent and had an SEC-high 21 assists as a team. The Bulldogs also held a decisive 52-38 advantage with points in the paint and had 20 second-chance points.

LOUISIANA TECH 93, SOUTHERN MISS 65

RUSTON, La. (AP) — Jalen Harris made six 3-pointers and scored 20 points, Erik McCree scored 18 points, and Louisiana Tech hit a season-high 14 3-pointers to beat Southern Mississippi in its regular-season finale on Saturday.

Jacobi Boykins added 17 points with four 3-pointers, Joniah White had 10 points, and the Bulldogs (22-9, 14-4) are the No. 2 seed in next week’s Conference USA Tournament.

Up by 16 at halftime, the Bulldogs led by 24, 65-41, after Boykins’ 3 capped a 7-0 run. Southern Miss closed to 17, 71-54, after an 11-3 run capped by Quinton Campbell’s 3-pointer with 10:54 left. Jy’lan Washington’s 3 with 2:32 to play gave Louisiana Tech a 30-point lead.

Watts’ free throw put the Golden Eagles up 9-8, but Harris’ 3 capped a 10-0 Bulldogs run and Louisiana Tech led 49-33 at halftime.

Campbell scored 19 for the Golden Eagles (9-21, 6-12), who for the first time since a two-year ban, are headed to the conference tournament. Raheem Watts added 12.

TENNESSEE 59, ALABAMA 54

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee was staring at a double-digit halftime deficit and the likelihood of a fourth straight loss Saturday when Admiral Schofield made a bold prediction.

As the Volunteers gathered in the locker room, Schofield said if they played stronger defense, their shots eventually would start falling.

That’s exactly what happened.

Schofield made a 3-pointer with 1:58 left to put Tennessee ahead for good as the Vols rallied from 16 points down to beat Alabama 59-54 in the regular-season finale for both teams. Tennessee snapped a three-game skid and produced its biggest comeback of the season for a major confidence boost heading into next week’s Southeastern Conference Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee.

Grant Williams had 16 points and 10 rebounds as Tennessee (16-15, 8-10 SEC) limited Alabama (17-13, 10-8) to just 18 second-half points. Alabama shot 6 of 24 in the second half after Tennessee shot just 6 of 30 in the first half.

The Crimson Tide led 40-24 with less than 18 minutes left before Tennessee stormed back with a 16-2 run. The Volunteers finally pulled ahead 48-47 with 8:35 left when Williams sank a 3-pointer from in front of Tennessee’s bench as the shot clock expired.

Alabama regained the lead on a Corban Collins 3-pointer with 7:29 left that sparked a 6-0 run. Tennessee answered with nine straight points of its own on a trio of 3-pointers — two from Lew Evans and the go-ahead shot from Schofield.

Riley Norris scored 13 points — all in the first half — and Braxton Key had 12 for Alabama. Evans had 13 points and Schofield added 10 for Tennessee.