The Sports Xchange
Dec 13, 2017
Senior guard Markel Crawford scored 16 points to help Mississippi cruise to an 82-69 nonconference victory over Sam Houston State on Wednesday at Oxford, Miss.
Freshman guard Devontae Shuler added 14 points for the Rebels (5-4), who halted a three-game slide. Junior forward Bruce Stevens scored 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting, and senior guard Deandre Burnett added 12 points and six assists.
Senior forward Christopher Galbreath Jr. had 22 points and nine rebounds for Sam Houston (5-5). Cameron Delaney added 12 on four 3-pointers, and fellow junior guard John Dewey III had 12 points and 10 assists for the Bearkats.
The Rebels shot 63 percent from the field in the second half, 51.7 percent for the game.
Ole Miss led by just six points early in the second half before beginning to pull away. A 3-pointer by Shuler capped a 16-5 run as the Rebels took a 59-42 advantage with 13:37 remaining.
The lead reached 20 when senior forward Justas Furmanavicius buried a 3-pointer with 10:21 left.
Ole Miss, which outrebounded the Bearkats 43-30, was in control the rest of the way.
The Rebels led 39-33 at the break despite missing 13 of their final 15 field-goal attempts.
Ole Miss used runs of 8-0 and 9-0 in the opening nine-plus minutes to grab a 21-6 advantage.
A short time later, Crawford drained back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 30-11 with 8:38 left in the half.
The Bearkats used a 10-0 burst to pull within 35-26 on Galbreath's jumper with 3:15 remaining and eventually cut the Ole Miss lead to six on Dewey's layup with 1:11 to play.