How It Happened: LSU Basketball Takes Down Ole Miss 106-99 in Double-OT Thriller

OXFORD, Mississippi – LSU rallied from an eight-point deficit with seven minutes to play to force overtime, tied the game to force a second overtime and then outscored Ole Miss, 16-9, in the second overtime to win, 106-99, Wednesday night at the Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss.

It was LSU’s third win in overtime this season, all on the road – at Boston College, at South Carolina and at Ole Miss.

Six LSU players were in double figures led by Max Mackinnon who scored 34 points in 48 minutes, hitting 11-of-24 field goals, 4-of-6 three-pointers and 8-of-10 at the free throw line. He also had three assists.

Mike Nwoko had 18 points on 4-of-6 shooting and 10-of-10 at the free throw line with four assists. Pablo Tamba made 6-of-7 field goals in scoring 15 points, with Rashad King adding 13, Robert Miller III 12 and Jalen Reece had 11 points and 10 assists.

Ilias Kamardine had 26 points and 10 assists, Malik Dia 20, AJ Storr 19 and Eduardo Klafke 16.

The Tigers trailed 74-66 with 7:04 to play and finally tied the game at 80-80 with 1:38 left on a floater in the lane by Nwoko. Corey Chest on an alley oop gave the Rebels back the lead with 1:13 to play, 82-80. Chest was fouled but missed the free throw. LSU lost the ball on the rebound, but Ole Miss turned the ball over and gave LSU the possession with 36 seconds to play.

King was fouled with 15 seconds to play and made both free throws to tie the game at 82-82, but more importantly, LSU made the stop to force the overtime, with Robert Miller blocking the first attempt and then Ole Miss missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.

In the first overtime, Ole Miss had a lead inside the final minute off two free throws, 90-88. On LSU ensuing possession, Tamba would drive the paint and score to tie the game at 90-90 with 36 seconds to play.

Again, LSU had to stop the Rebels who missed a shot, got the offensive rebound and called timeout with just under seven seconds to play. Ole Miss drove the lane, but the step back jumper was no good and LSU held again forcing double overtime.

In the second overtime, the Rebels got two free throws four seconds in, but Miller drove the lane for a powerful dunk on LSU’s first possession to tie the game for the 16th and final time at 92-92. The Rebels missed a layup and then McKinnon threw in an off balance shot as he was fouled to give LSU the lead for good with 3:49 to play. The senior made the free throw to give LSU a 95-92 advantage.

Ole Miss closed the game to one point twice in the second five minutes but LSU got two more Mackinnon buckets and made 7-of-8 free throws to ice the game.

In the two overtime periods LSU was 8-of-14 from the field and 8-of-9 at the line, while Ole Miss was 4-of-15 in the 10 extra minutes, 1-of-3 from distance and 8-of-8 at the line.

For the game, LSU shot an even 50 percent (35-of-70), with 11-of-21 from distance and a strong 25-of-29 at the free throw line. Ole Miss finished 36-of-78 for 46.2 percent with five made treys and 22-of-29 at the line.

LSU turned the ball over 11 times which led to 22 Ole Miss points, many on run out easy baskets, but the Tigers had just one turnover in the extra session. Ole Miss had six turnovers for the game. The points off turnovers advantage was 12 for Ole Miss.

LSU had a 40-39 rebound advantage and a 22-12 advantage in second chance points.

The Tigers will host Oklahoma at 5 p.m. on Saturday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

LSU vs Ole Miss
February 25, 2026
LSU Head Coach Matt McMahon

Opening Statement…
“I’m just really happy for our players. I thought those last three games, while we were disappointed in the final score, made us a lot better. Tonight, Max (Mackinnon) got us off to a great start. We only lead tonight for eight minutes. I think we trailed for like 33 minutes of the game. We were down eight with seven minutes to go. The guys just kept making plays. Once it got to overtime, we were able to hold them to 26% from the floor. I thought our guys really executed on the offensive end. Jalen Reece played 47 minutes and had 10 assists, just one turnover. Everyone who played was incredibly productive for us. Look at some of those plays Rob Miller made, coming from the weak side to block shots. I was just really pleased with our execution on both ends, especially in the second overtime.”

On the keys to the victory…
“I thought we hit clutch free throws. Rashad (King) hit two (free throws) or we don’t even get to the extra period. Rob Miller hit two when we were up by one in overtime. You look at Mackinnon’s 34 (points) obviously, he was terrific. We are trying to find the most efficient combinations for us to give us a chance to win, so we made some changes at the five. I thought Nwoko’s response was huge. He had 18 points and only missed two shots on the night. He got five rebounds. What was really key, with the way they were swarming, was that he had 4 assists and no turnovers. We outscored them (Ole Miss) by 17 when he was on the court. Miller had 12 (points) and five (rebounds). He had four blocks. He really fixed some problems on that end. Pablo had 16 points and seven rebounds and four assists. He’s always a warrior. I thought a big key in the game was that we moved him to their point guard. Late in the game, he guarded Kamardine and we put Miller on Dia. We changed some of our matchups and then switched some late in the possessions. I thought he (Pablo Tamba) executed well. Rashad King had some big threes and free throws too.”

More LSU News:

LSU Football, Ohio State Buckeyes, USC Trojans Among Top Schools for No. 4 Rated WR

LSU Football Predicted to Land Commitment From Elite Louisiana Running Back

Paul Finebaum Reveals Bold Statement on LSU Football's Lane Kiffin Amid Major Move

Join the Community:

Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and LSU Tigers On SI: @LSUTigersSI for all coverage surrounding the LSU Tigers.