STARKVILLE, Miss. - For the first time in nearly a decade Ole Miss left Humphrey Coliseum victorious.

The Rebels overcame a first half barrage by Mississippi State and used an effective zone defense that limited the Bulldogs to only five field goals in the second half to come away with a 67-63 win in front of 10,475 fans.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a fast 12-2 run to start the game and led by as many as 13 points in the first half but Ole Miss kept after it outscoring MSU 34-26 in the second half to improve to 3-4 in the Southeastern Conference and 12-9 overall.

"I thought our zone was very good to us," said Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy. "I thought when we got through the initial barrage I thought we settled in and our defense helped us stay in the game throughout the first half. I thought it made them become a little stagnant offensively and as a result we were able to continue to score and putting more and more pressure on every shot they took."

The Rebels shot 46.4-percent in the second half while holding State to just 21.7-percent. For the game Ole Miss shot 41.4-percent from the floor and knocked down nine treys.

"Give Ole Miss credit, they played better than we did and deserved to win the game," said MSU head coach Rick Stansbury. "They jumped up and made some shots and made plays when they had to inparticularly in the second half."

The Rebels also hit the glass outrebounding Mississippi State by nine.

Terrico White led Ole Miss with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting including 4-of-8 from behind the arc.



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