Senior power forward Sebastian Saiz produced his 12th career double-double to pace a balanced attack as Mississippi's first Thanksgiving Day game turned into an 86-81 victory over Montana on Thursday afternoon at The Pavilion in Oxford, Miss.

Saiz, the SEC's top returning rebounder, finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Rebels (5-1). Junior guard Deandre Burnett, the league's leading scorer at 23.6 points per game, finished with a game-high 21 points, but shot just 5 of 14 from the field. Junior guard Cullen Neal drilled 5 3-pointers on his way to 19 points and sophomore guard Terrence Davis added 18 points.

Montana (1-5), which shot 38 percent from the floor, was led by freshman guard Sayeed Pritchett's 19 points. Sophomore guard Ahmaad Rorie contributed 18 points while senior forward Jack Lopez canned 5 3-pointers on his way to 17 points.

At the outset, the Grizzlies didn't seem capable of hanging with the Rebels on their home floor. Mississippi seized its first double-digit lead at 17-6 on junior forward Marcanvis Hymon's layup at 11:50 of the first half. Montana narrowed the margin to five points on a pair of occasions -- the last time at 21-16 on Pritchett's layup with 7:45 left in the half -- but the Rebels restored their lead to 41-29 by the break.

Ole Miss appeared ready to cruise to victory when Saiz converted a three-point play to make it 62-44 with 12:03 to go, but Pridgett and sophomore guard Bobby Moorehead fueled a Montana rally. They combined for 15 consecutive Grizzlies points -- capped by Moorehead's 3-pointer with 5:41 left -- to pull Montana within 72-65.

The Grizzlies missed their next four shots, though, and couldn't get any closer until senior guard Walter Wright drilled a 3-pointer to cut the margin to 81-76 with 49.5 seconds to play. The Rebels canned 5 of 8 free throws in the final 48 seconds to hold on for the win.