Murrell Shines, Rebels Roll Miss. State 82-72 in Oxford

OXFORD, Miss. -- A career night from Matthew Murrell helped Ole Miss blow past Mississippi State 82-72 on Saturday night at the SJB Pavilion.

The Rebels (9-5, 1-1 SEC) led the majority of the game against the Bulldogs (10-4, 1-1 SEC) with a 50-36 lead at halftime. Murrell dropped 31 points, was 10-of-11 from the field and 5-of-5 from three in the Rebel win, and he had 23 points at the intermission.

"Murrell just got in an unbelievable zone tonight," Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis said following the win. "He's been practicing like that lately."

Murrell headlined a group of four Rebels who hit double-digit point totals, and his performance set a new personal scoring high for him at Ole Miss. His previous high was 19 points against Memphis earlier this season. Jaemyn Brakefield also had a strong night, scoring 14 and going 6-of-9 from the field.

"I got going with a couple of layups," Murrell said, "and the threes started to fall. I felt like I couldn't miss. It started in practice and carried over to the game."

Nysier Brooks dominated the rebounding category for the Rebels, hauling in 16 boards paired with 15 points.

"I've just been trying to attack the glass," Brooks said. "I realized in a couple of our losses, when my rebounds weren't in double digits, we were having a hard time keeping a lead. Just trying to keep an aggressive mindset."

As a team, the Rebels shot over 50 percent from the field and 47.8 percent from three, compared to Mississippi State's respective percentages of 45.5 and 18.8. Daeshun Ruffin, who was in the starting lineup in place of a still-hobbled Jarkel Joiner, also had 17 points.

Joiner was listed as "doubtful" coming into the game due to a lower back injury that prevented him from traveling to Tennessee earlier in the week, but he did play sparingly on Saturday without scoring. With this kind of offensive performance in Joiner's absence, it gives Murrell and the Rebels some confidence moving forward.

"It shows me that our team is really special," Murrell said. "We were able to play like this without him, and I feel like we'll play even better with him. I think we'll be a team to reckon with."

Ole Miss has now won 12 of the last 17 games against Mississippi State on the hardwood, and this series has a special level of importance to Davis who played at and graduated from Mississippi State.

"There's nothing like a rivalry game," Davis said. "I've grown up in this rivalry my whole life. I've been on both sides of it, which is unique, but I sure am glad to be on this side."

Ole Miss is next scheduled to travel to College Station to face Texas A&M on Tuesday before returning home to host Auburn on Saturday. Tip-off against the Aggies is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network.

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