National Basketball Association
Mississippi 80, Tennessee Tech 63
When: 4:00 PM ET, Sunday, December 29, 2019
Where: The Pavilion at Ole Miss, Oxford, Mississippi
Officials:
# Wil Howard, # Owen Shortt, # Randy Heimerman
Attendance:
7261
By Field Level Media
Devontae Shuler and KJ Buffen had 20 points apiece as Mississippi pulled away in the second half to beat visiting Tennessee Tech 80-63 on Sunday afternoon in Oxford, Miss.
It was the fourth straight win for the Rebels (9-3), who improved to 10-1 in December games under second-year coach Kermit Davis. The lone loss was at home to then-unbeaten Baylor on Dec. 3.
Shuler, a junior guard, was 8 of 12 from the field and added five rebounds and five assists. Buffen, a sophomore forward, made 6 of 12 shots and 7 of 8 free throw attempts to go with eight rebounds.
That duo helped offset a down afternoon for senior guard Breein Tyree, Ole Miss' leading scorer who had nine points and made only 1 of 6 3-pointers.
Tennessee Tech, which hasn't beaten a power-conference team since winning at Oregon State in 2007, was led by senior guard Darius Allen and sophomore guard Jr. Clay, both of whom had 13 points.
Tennessee Tech (3-10) led 32-31 at halftime but went the final 2:53 of the first half without scoring, allowing Ole Miss to cut into a five-point edge. The Rebels got hot from the perimeter in the second half, making four of their first six attempts from behind the arc after going 1 for 12 in the first half.
The hot second-half shooting helped open the interior for the Rebels. A layup by Shuler with 12:28 to go gave Ole Miss a 52-41 lead, then a 13-0 run produced entirely from baskets within the paint upped the margin to 67-47 after a basket by senior forward Khadim Sy with 6:38 left.
Ole Miss made 23 of 32 two-pointers in shooting 54.5 percent overall, including 69.2 percent in the second half.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Tennessee Tech |
|
Mississippi |
Darius Allen 13 |
Scoring |
KJ Buffen 20 |
Keishawn Davidson 4 |
Assists |
Austin Crowley 5 |
Hunter Vick 5 |
Rebounds |
Blake Hinson 10 |
Darius Allen 2 |
Free Throws Made |
KJ Buffen 7 |
Darius Allen 1 |
Steals |
KJ Buffen 2 |
Jared Sherfield 1 |
Blocks |
KJ Buffen 3 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Tennessee Tech
|
63 |
40.0 |
7-18 |
8-10 |
13 |
27 |
2 |
5 |
10 |
Mississippi
|
80 |
54.5 |
7-23 |
13-21 |
22 |
34 |
4 |
5 |
11 |