Mississippi State basketball outlasts Ole Miss, picks up key rivalry win

STARKVILLE — Chris Jans is 1-0 in the most important game on his schedule.

The first-year Mississippi State basketball coach and his team downed Ole Miss, in its fifth season under Kermit Davis, 64-54 on Saturday at Humphrey Coliseum.

The win marked the first time since 2016 that the Bulldogs (12-3, 1-2 SEC) have claimed the first game of a home-and-home against the Rebels, and it breathed new life into their conference campaign, granting Jans a vital first SEC victory.

The Rebels (8-7, 0-3) have lost seven of their last nine as their offensive issues continue to cause them issues.

Bulldogs dominate down the stretch

The gurgling volcano that was Humphrey Coliseum finally reached its explosion point with 3:15 left in the second half.

Leading 51-46 and looking for the putaway punch, Mississippi State's Dashawn Davis rose up from the right wing, took a bump and nailed his 3-pointer.

He couldn't convert the four-point play at the stripe, but it didn't much matter. The Bulldogs were on their way.

After the Rebels started the first half hot on offense, Mississippi State tapped into its tenacious defensive identity under Jans and totally shut the door.

The Rebels managed just nine points in the 10 minutes after taking a seven-point lead. The game was never competitive again.

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Two second-half runs set up MSU's big finish

Ole Miss came out of the halftime break with a punch that had Mississippi State staggered – briefly.

The Rebels connected on six of their first eight shots from the field, taking a seven-point lead that looked like it might be enough of a cushion considering how both teams have struggled to score this season.

It wasn't. Mississippi State had an answer.

The Bulldogs embarked on an 8-0 burst in the span of just over a minute as Shakeel Moore and Eric Reed connected from deep to give the Bulldogs the lead right back.

The burst got the crowd at The Hump back engaged, too.

Kermit Davis called timeout in an attempt to stop the snowball, but it didn't work. Mississippi State had a six-point lead by the 7:42 mark ‒ a 13-point swing. And the Bulldogs weren't done.

Teams trade first-half cold streaks

Any idea that this game might buck the recent trend and turn into a high-scoring affair was quickly dispatched.

Beginning at the 17:30 mark of the first half, Ole Miss went 10:07 without a field goal, missing 10 shots in a row. Still, the Rebels defended well enough to stay in the game, never going down more than eight points.

Around the time Ole Miss woke up, it was Mississippi State's turn to go cold. The Bulldogs missed eight consecutive field goal attempts beginning at the 8:14 mark of the first half.

In total, Mississippi State shot 31% to Ole Miss' 28% in the first 20 minutes, and went into the locker room with a 26-23 lead.

Up next

Ole Miss will head back home for a matchup with Auburn on Tuesday (8 p.m., ESPNU). Mississippi State's next game is a road matchup against Georgia on Wednesday (5:30 p.m., SEC Network).

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi State basketball outlasts Ole Miss, picks up key rivalry win