Memphis drops 3rd straight. Here are 5 takeaways from the loss at Ole Miss

OXFORD, Miss. — The body language told the story.

As the Ole Miss student section showered Memphis freshman Emoni Bates with the classic “O-VER-RATED!” chant, Bates and teammate DeAndre Williams hung their heads, slumped their shoulders and slowly strolled down the court Saturday inside The Pavilion.

With the Tigers trailing by nine points with a little more than four minutes remaining, Bates – already struggling to make anything happen offensively – committed a turnover, giving the Rebels even more momentum. No. 19 Memphis wasn't done fighting, though. It made things interesting late, cutting the deficit to two points with 14.2 seconds to play, but it was too little, too late. The Rebels won the chess match in the final seconds and held on for a 67-63 victory.

Nysier Brooks hit two free throws with 10.4 seconds left to seal the victory.

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Despite their best effort down the stretch, more listless vibes and thousand-yard stares ensued as the Tigers walked off the floor, losers of three in a row. Memphis (5-3) will fall out of the Top 25 when the new polls are released Monday and has five days off until it hosts Murray State on Friday.

Here are five takeaways from the game.

Emoni Bates off the bench

For the first time in his young collegiate career, Bates was not in coach Penny Hardaway’s starting lineup. And, according to Hardaway, it was at the behest of his 17-year-old freshman sensation.

"Emoni came to me after the (Georgia) game (on Wednesday). He was very frustrated," Hardaway told Dave Woloshin, the voice of the Tigers, before the game. "He felt like he'd be better mentally coming off the bench and he feels like he has a better chemistry with the guys coming off the bench. Alex (Lomax) is like a calming spirit for Emoni. With that second group, he looked a lot better and more comfortable in (Friday's) practice."

If that was the case, it did not travel with the team to Oxford. Bates’ struggles to live up to his massive billing continued. He scored seven points (five via free throw) on 1-of-9 shooting and had a pair of turnovers with no assists.

Memphis native Matthew Murrell comes up big

Ole Miss’ leading scorer Jarkel Joiner put up game-highs with 20 points and eight rebounds. But Matthew Murrell had as much of an impact as anyone on the Rebels.

Murrell, a former Whitehaven star, had 19 points, three rebounds and two assists. He was particularly lethal from 3-point range, going 4-for-9. Nobody else for either team hit more than one. Murrell, a former Team Thad star who also played for Team Penny before that, also converted 7-of-9 free throw attempts.

That old, familiar feeling

The Tigers’ fight with the free-throw line is nothing new, although they’d been better there lately.

In two of its last three games, Memphis converted 80% or better. The pendulum swung the other way Saturday, especially in the first half when the Tigers hit just 6-of-14 for a 42.9% success rate.

It got better in the second half, as the Tigers made 17 out of 23, but the damage was already done. Memphis finished at 62.2%.

Bright-spot Josh Minott

Memphis may have gotten off to a hot start, connecting on each of its first three field goal attempts and four of its first six.

The Tigers hit the skids after that, though, feeling their way through a 1 for 9 stretch. Just then, Memphis turned to an unlikely source to help straighten things out.

Freshman Josh Minott, who came into the game having played fewer than five minutes in three of the past four contests, scored all five of his first-half points in the 12 minutes before intermission. That tied for the team lead through the first half.

The 6-8 Minot also gave Memphis a needed boost on the boards, collecting five rebounds (three offensive) to help the Tigers take a 22-17 advantage into halftime.

As well as he played in the first half, he did not score or pick up any rebounds in the second half.

Where was Lester Quinones?

One of the most valuable members of last season’s NIT championship team, Lester Quinones played perhaps one of the worst games of his collegiate career.

In just 15 minutes, the junior guard was held scoreless for the first time and managed one rebound. Quinones had two assists, no steals and three turnovers.

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis drops 3rd straight. Here are 5 takeaways from the loss at Ole Miss