Field Level Media
Feb 6, 2018
Graduate transfer guard Kassius Robertson scored a season-high 27 points as Missouri recovered from an early 11-0 deficit, then had to rally down the stretch for a 75-69 victory over Ole Miss on Tuesday night in Oxford, Miss.
The Tigers ended an eight-game losing streak in the series.
Missouri (16-8, 6-5 Southeastern Conference) outscored Ole Miss 8-2 over the final 1:43 for a third consecutive victory. The Rebels (11-13, 4-7 SEC) dropped their fourth game in a row.
Forward Jontay Porter added 18 for the Tigers, one short of his season high, and had a big block in the final minute to thwart an Ole Miss comeback bid.
Guard Terence Davis led the Rebels with 20 points and forward Bruce Stevens added 15.
After missing their first four field-goal attempts and turning the ball over four times in the first 4 1/2 minutes, the Tigers finished the first half going 15 of 28 from the field (53.6 percent) and giving the ball away only two more times before the break.
They caught the Rebels at 17-17 on guard Jordan Geist's fastbreak layup and took their first lead 42 seconds later on Porter's two free throws. Porter followed that with a jumper in the lane to complete a 10-0 Missouri run before Ole Miss got a 3-pointer from Davis.
The Tigers went on from there to a 38-26 cushion with just over two minutes left before settling for a 40-31 advantage at the intermission.
The Rebels regained their footing, however, scoring the first six points of the second half and eventually catching the Tigers at 46-46 on guard Breein Tyree's 3-pointer at the 12:33 mark. They were up 53-49 after forward Dominik Olejniczak's dunk approaching the midway point of the second half.
The two teams then began exchanging leads in the remaining time.
--Field Level Media