Ole Miss Falls to Mississippi State in Overtime Thriller, Suffers First SEC Loss

The Ole Miss Rebels crawled all the way back but still fell short in overtime in their first matchup of the year against Mississippi State.

Jan 14, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Chris Beard watches the game from the bench during the second half against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Coleman Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Will McLelland-Imagn Images / Will McLelland-Imagn Images

The No. 21 Ole Miss Rebels took their first SEC fall of the season on Saturday night as they dropped a game to No. 15 Mississippi State 84-81 in overtime of the first-ever ranked matchup between the teams of the Magnolia State.

Through the first half, Ole Miss' offense started very slow, not recording a bucket until after the 16-minute mark, and started the game just 1-of-8 from behind the arc, giving State an early advantage.

Defensively, however, there were a lot of ups and downs. The Rebels forced nine turnovers, which is State's per game average, but they also allowed 11 offensive rebounds which turned into nine second-chance points to Ole Miss' zero.

In the first half, both teams had one double-digit scorer. For Ole Miss, it was Sean Pedulla racking up 11, and for State, it was Riley Kugel, giving the Bulldogs 10 points off the bench.

Throughout the first 15 minutes, it seemed to be all Mississippi State, controlling both sides of the ball and holding onto a consistent double-digit lead. Another factor in the Bulldogs' lead was their ability to draw fouls and convert from the line, going 7-of-11 from the line, while the Rebels only had one attempt from the charity stripe.

The Rebels did manage to find a small groove late in the half, bringing the game back to single digits, but it was not enough as the Bulldogs sustained an eight-point lead going into halftime up 37-29 after an eventful twenty minutes for both sides.

Early in the second half, Ole Miss found itself in its first two-possession position since early in the game as they cut the lead to four with 17:40 left.

Ole Miss continued to turn up the heat on both sides of the floor, including senior Matthew Murrell drilling a three to cut the lead to one and moving into 10th all-time in scoring at Ole Miss.

The following six minutes, the game turned into a dogfight, trading blows and stops before a media timeout stopped play with 10:56 left with Mississippi state holding a narrow 51-47 lead.

The dogfight continued for the rest of the game, and with time winding down, Ole Miss saw itself in a three point deficit; that was until Murrell drilled a three to tie the game at 74 and force overtime despite the Rebels not leading the game in regulation.

Ole Miss' first lead came a minute and twenty seconds into overtime as Jaemyn Brakefield punched it home, but it was quickly countered by State, tying the game at 76.

After some more back-and-forth, State found itself up two after a chase down block turned into a transition three-pointer, giving the Bulldogs a 79-77 lead.

Despite Ole Miss' best attempt to come back, Mississippi State held off the Running Rebs 84-81 in the first battle of the Magnolia State. The two teams will face off again in the regular season on Feb. 2 when Mississippi State travels north into Oxford.

With the loss, Ole Miss moves to 15-3 on the season and takes its first fall in the SEC, moving to 4-1 in conference play. The Rebels will return to the court as they travel back to Oxford for the first time in 11 days to take on Texas A&M on Tuesday at 8 p.m. CT.

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