Ole Miss Basketball Falls to Texas A&M 76-66 at Home

The Ole Miss Rebels lost their last game of the month on Saturday, falling to the Texas A&M Aggies 76-66 at home in the Sandy and John Black Pavilion.

The Rebels got off to a rocky start on the afternoon, allowing the Aggies to get a 14-0 lead at the 15-minute mark. Ole Miss finished the first half shooting 36 percent from the field with 10 turnovers, compared to A&M's five turnovers and 67.9 shooting percentage from the field.

Sophomore guard Matthew Murrell led the Rebels in scoring on Saturday, putting up 20 points along with two rebounds and one assist. Murrell and senior guard Tye Fagan were the only Rebels who scored double-digit points against the Aggies.

Fagan put up 10 points, eight assists, two steals and three rebounds

The leading scorer for Ole Miss, guard Jarkel Joiner, had a quiet first half, only recording 5 points. The senior out of Oxford, Miss., finished the game with seven points, two steals, and one assist.

Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis gave reporters his honest opinions after the game.

"I take full responsibility, that was embarrassing," said Davis. "We had some guys that weren't ready to play and that's my responsibility, to get them ready to play. [Texas A&M ] was more prepared than us, their style of play is a juggernaut to us."

Davis also addressed Ole Miss' slow start to the game.

"They got us on our heels early, and we turned [the ball] over," said Davis. "We could never get our footing at all, and they just started straight-line driving us to the rim."

With two games left in the regular season and the SEC Tournament looming, Davis discussed the mindset heading into the last week of the season.

"We thought we had an outside chance of not playing on the first night [of the SEC Tournament]," said Davis. "That was our goal, I don't think that is going to happen now. There's only one week left so you just have to try and get your team fresh and prepared."

Ole Miss plays the No. 6-ranked Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington, Ky., on Tuesday, March 1. The game will be televised on ESPN/ESPN 3 at 6 p.m. CT.

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