LIVE UPDATES: Ole Miss Rebels vs. Valparaiso Crusaders
OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss Rebels have not played the Valparaiso Crusaders since 1998 when the ‘The Shot’ was cemented as one of the most historic college basketball plays.
The Rebels were on the losing end of the shot as the 13-seed Valpos shocked the world and took down the 4-seed Rebels 70-69.
Fast forward almost 24 years later and the two teams are playing for the first time since that game. Ole Miss is 6-2 this season and they are coming off a disappointing loss to the Memphis Tigers last week, which saw them get out-physicaled en route to a 68-57 defeat.
While this game does not mean much to the average sports fan there is a lot of hype surrounding this game for Rebel and Crusader fans.
Ole Miss guard Matthew Murrell leads the team in scoring with 14.0 PPG and freshman guard Amaree Abram is second on the team with 11.8 PPG.
Senior forward Ben Krikke is the Crusaders leading scorer this year with 20.5 PPG.
Follow along below for live updated between the Rebels and Tigers.
Pregame
First Half
H1 (15:44): Ole Miss has taken an early lead at the first media timeout of the game and they are double teaming the Crusaders' big man every time he catches the ball on the low block.
Ole Miss 14, Valparaiso 6
H1 (10:40): The Rebels have stretched their lead to ten points and sophomore guard Daeshun Ruffin leads the team with six points on three of four shooting.
Ole Miss 28, Valparaiso 18
H1 (5:15): The Rebels are making quick and effective defensive rotations and are flustering Valpo big man Ben Krikke early. He has already turned the ball over twice and is struggling to generate any offense with only four points.
Ole Miss 39, Valparaiso 23
H1 (3:23): Matthew Murrell is a perfect 4-4 from the charity stripe and leads the Rebels with eight points to go along with two steals.
Ole Miss 43 ,Valparaiso 23
H1 (1:05): Ole Miss has forced thirteen turnovers and they find themselves ahead by 23 points.
Ole Miss 53, Valparaiso 30
Halftime -- Ole Miss 53, Valparaiso 30
Second Half
H2 (18:52): Valpo has no answer for the Rebels and their continued carelessness with the ball forced Matt Lottich to call a timeout after only one minute in the second half.
Ole Miss 58, Valparaiso 30
H2 (14:58): The Rebels biggest lead of the game is now 34 points and there is still plenty of game left. Matthew Murrell is up to 17 points and three steals on six of ten shooting.
Ole Miss, 69 Valparaiso 35
H2 (10:11): This game is completely out of hand. The Rebels are nearly doubling Valpo's scoring total. Murrell still leads Ole Miss in scoring, but Daeshun Ruffin is playing really well too. Ruffin is up to 14 points on six of seven shooting.
Ole Miss, 81 Valparaiso 42
H2 (7:41): The Rebels have five double-digit scorers and they only have three team turnovers.
Ole Miss, 83 Valparaiso 49
H2 (2:11): Ole Miss dominated this entire game making every Valpo offensive possession difficult. The Rebels have 32 points off of turnovers.
Ole Miss, 96 Valparaiso 58
Final -- Ole Miss, 98 Valparaiso 61
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