Field Level Media
Jan 23, 2021
Devontae Shuler scored 13 of his 17 points in nine-plus minutes bridging the first and second halves and the Ole Miss Rebels capitalized on the turnover-prone Texas A&M Aggies for a 61-50 win Saturday afternoon in their SEC matchup in Oxford, Miss.
Jarkel Joiner, an Oxford native, led Ole Miss (8-6, 3-4 SEC) with 21 points on 7 of 11 shooting. The Rebels went on a 14-0 run to erase a five-point deficit with under two minutes left in the first half.
Emanuel Miller scored 18 points on 8 of 14 shooting for Texas A&M (7-6, 2-5), which shot poorly to begin each half and couldn't recover the second time. Miller added 11 rebounds and three assists. The Aggies have lost four of their last five games.
Andre Gordon scored seven points but also was responsible for six of the Aggies' 18 turnovers, which Ole Miss turned into 25 points and used to gain separation.
Ole Miss led 31-28 at the half and scored the first six points of the second half. Then, after Miller's jumper cut the deficit to 37-30, Shuler nailed 3-pointers after consecutive turnovers to push the lead to 43-30 with 13:17 left in the game.
Texas A&M scored the next five points, on a Hayden Hefner trey and a jumper by Miller, but an 8-0 burst pushed the lead to 16, and it stayed in double digits the rest of the way. Joiner and Shuler had jumpers during that run.
Ole Miss shot 44.2 percent from the floor, and 29.4 percent (5 of 17) from long range, while Texas A&M managed 39.2 overall and 23.8 percent (5 of 21) on 3-pointers.
The Aggies missed their first eight shots of the game and 13 of their first 15, but they still built a seven-point lead on Gordon's dunk with 3:33 left in the first half.
Ole Miss bounced back to close out the period on a 12-2 run. Joiner scored five points during the spurt, which was fueled by five Aggies turnovers in the final 2:19.
Texas A&M entered the game averaging 16.3 turnovers per game, but had only four in the game's first 16-plus minutes.
Joiner led all scorers at the half with nine points, and Matthew Murrell added six for the Rebels. Shuler had five points, four rebounds and three assists before intermission.
Gordon and Miller had seven points each, and Kevin Marfo had six in the first half, for the Aggies. Miller also had three rebounds and three assists.
However, Gordon had four turnovers, including two amid the Rebels' half-closing run.
--Field Level Media