Oxford, MS - Mississippi State completed a season sweep of its rival Ole Miss in an overtime battle as they came out on top 69-61.
It was the first time since 2011 that the Bulldogs swept the Rebels, and while Chris Jans has greater goals for his team in year one, he still stressed the importance of winning your rivalry games.
"Rivalry games are a big deal," Jans said. "Everywhere I've been, I've made it a point to jump into the middle of it."
The Bulldogs jumped out to a quick 14-4 lead, with senior big man Tolu Smith and junior forward Cameron Matthews owning the paint. Smith finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season, while Matthews scored 17 and went 7/7 from the free-throw line.
Ole Miss managed to get back into the ballgame with Mississippi State committing 19 turnovers. The Rebels lived in transition and were able to get some easy buckets and draw some fouls on the fastbreak to go into halftime with a 33-32 lead.
Senior forward Jaemyn Brakefield led the charge for the Rebels with 20 points, while junior Matthew Murrell put up 17. The Bulldogs were able to keep Ole Miss' half-court in check, however. While the Rebels turned it over eight times, they shot a combined 32.3% from the field and 3/32 from three, including 1/9 from Murrell.
The second was as back-and-forth as a game of basketball can be. There were a total of ten lead changes in the game, and neither team pulled away by more than three points.
Mississippi State was down 51-48 with just over four minutes to go, but Oregon State transfer Dashawn Davis willed them back with a few floaters in the lane. Ole Miss stayed steady on offense with buckets from Murrell and Brakefield, leading by two with a minute to go.
Shakeel Moore had a very quiet game for the Bulldogs, with only two field goal attempts, but he nailed two free throws with 50 seconds on the clock to make it a tie game. Mississippi State had plenty of issues on the offensive end, with its 19 turnovers and 3/18 on three-point attempts, but the 18/21 they shot from the foul line proved to be the difference.
"It's just an equalizer," Jans said. "The teams that shoot the best percentages all year long don't lose close games very often."
Ole Miss forward Myles Burns traded a bucket with Tolu Smith, and after Eric Reed Jr. blocked Murrell at the buzzer, the Bulldogs were set for their second overtime game this season.
The Bulldog offense stayed hot with two more buckets from Davis and a banked-in three from D.J. Jeffries and quickly jumped out to a six-point on. The Mississippi State fans showed up to Oxford and were rowdy with "Maroon-White" chants when State pulled ahead. Ole Miss scored only five points in the period, and Matthews and Davis hit four free throws to seal the win.
Davis didn't play his best game for the first 35 minutes, but the senior guard scored ten of his 12 points in the final four minutes of regulation and overtime.
The Bulldogs pulled out a much-needed win for them to stay on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble, and they'll have a quadrant-1 opportunity on Tuesday when the travel up to Missouri.
