Despite four in double figures, No. 24 Ole Miss continues skid, loses to Vanderbilt
Last season coming into the final week of February, Ole Miss was 19-6. The hot start in the regular season fizzled with a 1-5 finish then a loss in the first game of the SEC Tournament. Fast forward to this year, Ole Miss is 19-8 after losing another Saturday.
The Rebels dropped the road contest, 77-72, falling to 8-6 in Southeastern Conference play. Ole Miss had four in double figures but had no answer for the Commodores down the stretch. Vandy lead by as many as 19 in the first half before Ole Miss cut it to seven at the break. Alas, it wasn’t enough as Vanderbilt ousted Ole Miss and improved to 18-9, 6-8 in the SEC.
Malik Dia, a Tennessee native, finished with 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting in the homecoming. But it wasn’t enough as starters Jaylen Murray, Dre Davis and Matthew Murrell combined for just 21 points on 7-of-25 shooting.
Ole Miss showed a ton of resiliency to start the second half.
The Rebels flashed some of Chris Beard‘s trademark “culture”, storming back to take a 47-46 lead. Sean Pedulla, who finished with 21 points, six rebounds and four assists, got hot shooting the rock. But the Commodores’ trio of Chris Manon, Chris Edwards and Tyler Nickel helped Vanderbilt regain the lead for good after a Dia stepback three gave Ole Miss a 64-62 lead with close to seven minutes to go.
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Ole Miss returns to action Wednesday February 26. And it doesn’t get any easier to finish the schedule out before postseason play. Ole Miss travels to No. 1 Auburn (24-2, 12-1 SEC). Tipoff is slated for 6pm CT on ESPN2.
Pedulla did tally his fourth 20-point game this season, shooting 50 percent from the field. It’s his 20th game this season scoring in double-figures. But, it was the five turnovers which kept him in the negative in the +/- category.
Murray led everyone in assists with five. It’s Murray’s 12th game this year with five or more assists. Dia led all Rebels with seven rebounds, but the Rebels were outrebounded 20-to-17.
