Gamecocks Drop League Contest to Rebels, 70-58

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Matthew Murrell made five 3-pointers and scored 23 points, Jayveous McKinnis had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Mississippi beat South Carolina 70-58 on Tuesday night for the Rebels’ first SEC victory this season.

It was the first SEC win for Ole Miss (9-9, 1-5) since beating Georgia on Feb. 19 before losing its final four conference games last season.

Murrell scored 16 of his points in the second half, including 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to extend the Ole Miss lead to 55-42 with 4:16 left. He finished two points shy of his season high.

Freshman Amaree Abram added eight points and James White, making his second career start, had seven points for Ole Miss, which plays No. 25 Arkansas on Saturday.

Ole Miss led 30-20 at the break after holding South Carolina to 30% shooting. The Gamecocks went seven-plus minutes without making a field goal and closed the half making just two of their final 14 shots.

Ole Miss went on a 10-0 run in the second half, with five straight points from TJ Caldwell, to take a 45-31 lead with 11 minutes left.

Star freshman Gregory Jackson II scored 15 points on 5-of-20 shooting and Chico Carter Jr. added 12 points for South Carolina (8-10, 1-4). The Gamecocks shot 37% from the field and were out-rebounded 43-31.

KEY STAT

• Ole Miss held South Carolina to just 36.7 percent shooting (22-for-60) and 25.0 percent (6-for-24) from distance.
• The Rebels, who came into the game shooting just 28.8 percent from 3 (last in the SEC and 338th in the country), went 10-of-24 (41.7 percent) tonight from behind the arc.

NOTABLES

• Gregory “GG” Jackson II led Carolina in points (15), rebounds (7), and assists (3).
• Chico Carter Jr. also scored in double figures for Carolina and finished with 12 points on 50.0 percent shooting (5-for10) while adding four rebounds.
• Meechie Johnson finished with five points ending his double figure scoring streak at 10 games.
• Hayden Brown returned to the floor tonight after missing last Saturdays game against Texas A&M with a deep thigh bruise. He scored nine points and grabbed two boards for the Gamecocks in 21 minutes of action.

UP Next

The Gamecocks (8-10, 1-4 SEC) remain at home and face No. 16/17 Auburn (14-3, 4-1 SEC) on Saturday. Tipoff against the Tigers is slated for 3:30 p.m. (ET) on SEC Network with Roy Philpott (pxp) and Mark Wise (analyst) on the call. The Gamecock football team will be honored at halftime of the game.

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