Lack of Offense, Matthew Murrell Sinks Ole Miss vs. Georgia
The Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball team lost to the Georgia Bulldogs 69-66 in Athens on Tuesday night in the program's final road game of the 2024 season. This loss hurts, as Georgia was on a three-game losing streak entering its matchup with Ole Miss.
The Rebels started the game off on the wrong foot, as they lost their leading scorer, senior guard Matthew Murrell, in the opening minutes due to an illness, per the Ole Miss Network. Murrell did not return from the locker room after halftime, and did not score in his brief time on the court.
With Murrell out, Ole Miss turned to senior forward Jaemyn Brakefield, who led the team in scoring with 12 points in the first half. The rest of the team, however, struggled to find any sort of rhythm offensively. Allen Flanigan finished second on the team with seven points, but five of them were earned at the free throw line. As a team, the Rebels shot 12-29 in the first half.
© Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports
The Rebels entered the locker room down 35-32, but took the lead early in the second half. It was short lived, however, as the Bulldogs retook the advantage by the U12 timeout. Ole Miss held the lead for two minutes and eight seconds on Tuesday night.
The Rebels tried to pull off a comeback in the final minutes after going on a 9-0 scoring run, but once the Bulldogs reached the bonus it was all over for Ole Miss.
Ole Miss was led in scoring by Brakefield and Jaylen Murray with 19 points apiece, and they were joined in double digits by Flanigan (11). As a team, Ole Miss shot 39 percent from the field and 27 from three compared to percentages of 44 and 19 from the Bulldogs, respectively.
The Rebels will now return to the Sandy and John Black Pavilion for their final regular season matchup of 2024 versus the Texas A&M Aggies. Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m. CT on Saturday in Oxford and the game will be televised on CBS.
