Dre Davis tipped in a missed shot just before the buzzer sounded Saturday night as No. 25 Ole Miss scored the game’s final 13 points to edge LSU 72-70 in a Southeastern Conference game in Baton Rouge, La.
The Rebels (18-6, 7-4) fell behind 70-59 with 3:14 left after Cam Carter drove the lane for a layup but made up the deficit thanks in large part to 6 of 6 foul shooting and Jaemyn Brakefield’s clutch top-of-the-key 3-pointer with 44.6 seconds remaining that evened the score at 70.
Carter committed an offensive foul with 28.1 seconds left and Ole Miss played for the final shot. Sean Pedulla drove down the right wing and missed a layup but Davis got his hand on the shot after it fell off the iron for the last of his game-high 22 points.
Pedulla added 17 for Ole Miss while Brakefield added 11. Matthew Murrell hit for 10 points as the Rebels won despite hitting only 23 of 61 shots from the field.
Carter scored 16 points to pace the Tigers (12-11, 1-9), which led for 30:12 but still dropped their sixth straight game. Daimion Collins added 15 points and Jordan Sears bagged 13.
LSU made only 12 of 25 foul shots.
Coming off one of its biggest wins of the season, a 98-84 beating of Kentucky on Tuesday night in which it collected 24 assists and committed just one turnover, Ole Miss got more than it bargained for from an LSU team struggling to stay out of the SEC cellar.
A scoring drought of 3:05 to start the game was the first sign the Rebels wouldn’t be as efficient in this one. Another dry spell of 3:06 helped the Tigers establish a 29-21 lead when Carter fed Trey’Dez Green for a layup at the 5:47 mark.
Carter closed out LSU’s solid first half in style by draining a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left, giving the hosts a 39-33 lead at intermission. The Tigers sank 45.5 percent from the field and owned a 22-15 advantage on the boards in the first 20 minutes.
–Field Level Media
