Wichita St. Shockers vs Mississippi Rebels Match Player Stats On Jan 02, 2021

With a nice lift from Tyson Etienne's 29 points, Isaac Brown took another step toward having "interim" removed from his title at Wichita State as his Shockers beat Ole Miss 83-79 on Saturday in Oxford, Miss.

The victory was the fifth in a row for the Shockers (6-2) and Brown, who was named interim head coach after Gregg Marshall resigned on Nov. 17.

It gives WSU its second consecutive win over the SEC's Rebels; the Shockers won a year ago by a 74-54 margin.

Also scoring in double figures for WSU were Alterique Gilbert with 14 points and Dexter Dennis with 10.

The loss was the second straight for Ole Miss (5-3) as it lost to Alabama in its conference opener earlier in the week.

Devontae Shuler, Ole Miss' top scorer, followed up his disappointing shooting night against Alabama (8 points) by scoring a team-high 20. He was 6 of 12 on 3-point shots.

KJ Buffen added 18 for the Rebels.

Romello White followed up his double-double against Alabama with 11 points and seven rebounds but spent key minutes on the bench in the second half because of four fouls.

Ole Miss entered the game ranked ninth in the nation in scoring defense (56.9) and 10th in turnovers forced per game (19.7) but could not hold back the Shockers, who shot 52 percent from the floor.

WSU started strong thanks to 3-point shooting, but the Rebels rebounded with long-range shooting of their own to lead 41-39 at the half. Ole Miss knocked down seven 3s while the Shockers had four.

WSU held a 16-7 advantage on the boards in the half.

Shuler led all scorers with 12 points on 4 of 6 3-point shooting in the first 20 minutes.

Etienne led the Shockers with 10.

The game was decided over the final minutes as WSU hit key foul shots and Ole Miss didn't.

Ole Miss returns to SEC play on Wednesday when it hosts Auburn.

The Shockers continue on the road Wednesday at Houston. The Cougars (7-1) are ranked fifth nationally but suffered their first loss Tuesday at Tulsa.

--Field Level Media