Ole Miss rebounds in second half to beat No. 4 Tennessee 78-76

No. 4 Tennessee had one opportunity after the next to put Ole Miss away Wednesday night at SBJ Pavilion in Oxford. The Vols never did it. And they paid the price in a 78-76 road loss.

Jaemyn Brakefield delivered for the Rebels the entire second half and scored with 7.5 seconds left for the go-ahead points and Igor Milicic Jr. missed a shot at the rim as time expired, losing his handle on the ball on the way up.

Milicic tied the game with a four-point play with 40 seconds left, giving the Vols two four-point possessions to erase two four-point deficits after doing the same Saturday in the 79-76 buzzer-beating win over Alabama.

Jordan Gainey scored 17 points off the bench to lead Tennessee (24-6, 11-6 SEC). Chaz Lanier scored 13 of his 15 in the first half and Felix Okpara scored 13 points and had seven rebounds. Zakai Zeigler had eight points and 15 assists.

Brakefield took over for Ole Miss (21-9, 10-7) in the second half, scoring all of his 19 points after halftime. Malik Dia had 13 points, Dre Davis had 13 points and 10 rebounds and Matthew Murrell scored 12.

The Rebels out-rebounded Tennessee 24-13 in the second half, including 11-2 on the offensive glass, and shot 46.2% from the field despite going 0-for-8 from the 3-point line. They finished the game with 46 points in the paint to just 20 for the Vols.

Davis gave Ole Miss the lead at the foul line with 3:56 left, then built the lead to four with 2:36 to go while the Rebels made their fourth straight shot from the field, forcing a Tennessee timeout. 

The Vols had the lead at eight after an Okpara three-point play to start the second half, only to see Ole Miss answer with a 8-0 run over 1:40 to get it back to a tie game with 15 minutes left.

The lead was back to seven after two straight Okpara dunks, but Ole Miss answered with the next five points and had the game tied again with 7:20 left.

A nine-point lead in the first half, Tennessee’s biggest of the game, was matched by an Ole Miss 9-0 run to tie the game.

Vols led by five at halftime, by as many as nine in first half

Tennessee led 41-36 at halftime, after leading for just over 16 minutes and by as many as nine points in the first half. 

Lanier scored 13 before the break, going 3-for-6 from the 3-point line, and Gainey, Jahmai Mashack and Darlinstone Dubar scored seven each in the first half. 

Tennessee led by nine at 29-20 after a Lanier three with 6:28 left in the first half. Ole Miss answered with nine straight points and four straight made shots, taking a brief 31-30 lead before the Vols finished the half by scoring 11 of the next 16 points. 

Tennessee shot 48.3% from the field in the first half and with 8-for-17 from the 3-point line.

Up Next: No. 4 Tennessee vs. South Carolina, Saturday, 2 p.m. ET

Tennessee will close the regular-season schedule against South Carolina on Saturday at Food City Center. The Senior Day game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. Eastern Time start on SEC Network.

The Vols were fourth in the SEC standings entering Wednesday’s game at Ole Miss, needing one win this week to clinch a top-four finish in the league and a double-bye in next week’s SEC Tournament.

Tennessee started the week with a chance to finish as high as No. 2 in the league behind Auburn. The Vols could finish No. 3 or No. 4, depending on outcomes of Alabama and Florida’s final two games.

South Carolina (12-18, 2-15) lost at home to Georgia Tuesday night. The Gamecocks lost 13 straight to start SEC play before winning two of three, beating Texas and Arkansas at home.