Ole Miss Basketball Falls to Samford 75-73 in Oxford

OXFORD, Miss. -- If you were looking for an easy tune-up for Ole Miss prior to the start of conference play, Tuesday's game against Samford was the exact opposite.

The Rebels (8-4) led the Bulldogs 42-36 at halftime, but a 17-2 run out of the break put Samford up by 12. Ole Miss spent the remainder of the second half trying to climb out of this deficit, and the Rebels were able to tie the game after the under-four timeout.

Ole Miss shot 40.6 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from three compared to 45.8 percent from three by Samford. Bulldog guard Ques Glover was especially effective for the visitors, dropping 21 points, nine of which came from beyond the arc.

Ole Miss' Jaemyn Brakefield hit what would have been the tying basket as time expired in the game, but he did not get the shot off before the buzzer after an official review.

Daeshun Ruffin again led Ole Miss in scoring with 17 points, and since coming back from his injury, the Rebel freshman has been a key scoring threat in Oxford, especially over his last two games. Luis Rodriguez (13), Jaemyn Brakefield (11) and Jarkel Joiner (15) were the other Rebels who hit double-digit point totals.

Ole Miss now turns its attention to conference play. The Rebels will open its SEC slate at home on Dec. 29 against Florida. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. CT on SEC Network.

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