Bulldogs Prevent Rebels from Winning the Tournament at Home

Georgia’s Athens The Ole Miss Rebels are defeated 69-66 by the Georgia Bulldogs in their season-ending home game. The Bulldogs’ record now stands at 16-14 overall and 6-11 in the conference after the victory. The Rebels, meanwhile, drop to 20-10 and 7-10 in the SEC.

Freshman forward Dylan James opened up the first half for the Dawgs with a pair of free throws in the first minute. The two teams traded baskets, and UGA took two in a row to go up 8-4 with 16:40 left. Each team failed to score for almost three minutes until James made a dunk to put Georgia up 6 (10-4) with 13:47 left. Georgia added a few more to take their largest lead of the half, 8 (14-6), with 11:40 still on the clock. Georgia head coach Mike White was issued a flagrant foul 14 seconds later after a reaction to a foul on freshman guard Silas Demary Jr. Ole Miss made it a 3-point game at the 8:52 mark after a series of jumpers and free throws. The Rebels then made it a two-point (20-22) game with 6:44 on the clock after Brandon Murray hit a three-pint jumper and made it even closer when senior guard Allen Flanigan went 2-2 on free throw attempts. Graduate student guard Noah Thomasson responded for the Dawgs with a three-point jumper with 3:38 remaining. UGA was able to expand their lead to 5, but the Rebels knocked down a jumper with one second remaining to close the half, 35-32, with UGA on top. Ole Miss tied the game within the first minute of the second period with a three-point jumper from senior forward Jaemyn Brakefield. The Rebels took their first lead of the game, 37-35, after Murray put up a layup with 18:37 left. Thomasson took it back for the Dawgs with a 3-point jumper less than 40 seconds later, but Ole Miss was able to answer and put down two field goals to make it 41-40. Graduate student Russel Tchewa recorded his first field goal of the game to kick off a 7-0 Georgia run, which spread over two and a half minutes to put the Dawgs up 47-41 with 11:24 left. The two teams traded baskets until the Bulldogs went on a 6-0 run, starting with 8:56 left and ending with 5:52, to grab their first double-digit lead of the game, 57-47. The Rebels cut the lead to 7 a few times over the next three minutes, but starting at the 2:31 mark, the Rebels went on a 9-0 run. The run was capped off by a flagrant on Tchewa, which the Rebels capitalized off of with two made free throws by Flanigan and a three-point jumper from junior guard Brandon Murray with 49 seconds remaining. Despite this effort, Tchewa made a layup from down under and Hill made two free throws to seal the UGA win 69-66 (Jaylen Murray made a three-point buzzer-beater to give the Rebels three last-second points).

Important players for each team were absent from the match. Senior guard Jabri Abdur-Rahim, the second-leading scorer for the Dawgs, was sidelined for the entire game due to a left ankle injury. Regarding the Rebels, it was due to illness that senior guard Matthew Murrell quit the game after playing for the first two and a half quarters. At 17.0 points per game, Murrell leads Ole Miss in scoring this season. Tonight, three Rebels scored in double figures: Flanigan finished with 11 points, Brakefield and junior guard Jaylen Murray each with 19. With three assists apiece, Flanigan and Jaylen Murray also led the way. Jaylen Murray led Ole Miss with six rebounds out of the Rebels’ thirty rebounds, continuing his impressive performance.

Leading the way with ten and nine rebounds, respectively, Tchewa and James helped the Bulldogs pull down nine more rebounds than the Rebels (39). Tchewa scored 11 points tonight to go for his third double-double of the year. With five assists, all of which came in the first half, Tchewa likewise topped the team in assists. Tchewa is one of five Bulldogs who reached the double digits tonight; James and sophomore guard R.J. Melendez each had 10, Thomasson led with 15, and senior guard Justin Hill had 11. UGA outscored the Rebels 36–22 in the paint while shooting just 19.0% off of 21 three-point tries. However, they capitalized on two-point jumpers and made 43.9% on field goals.

The Rebels needed to win tonight in order to maintain their prospects of making the tournament; the Dawgs stopped them. With tonight’s 66-point victory over Ole Miss, UGA’s record under Mike White is 26-2 when their opponents are held to fewer than 70 points. The Bulldogs can end their season at home with a close victory that they haven’t been able to finish, having led for 36:37 tonight. This Saturday, the Dawgs ought to head into Auburn with a little bit of confidence and some momentum.