MOBILE, Ala. ? A team high 17 points by junior Ernest Little wasn’t enough as Ole Miss posted an 82-72 win over South Alabama in the first game of the Eighth Annual Coors Classic on Saturday at the Mitchell Center in front of a sell-out crowd of 10,041. The Jags fall to 5-5, while Ole Miss improves to 9-2 on the season.
“I was very impressed with Ole Miss and they got off to a great start and the pace of the game was fantastic from the start,” Jaguar head coach John Pelphrey said.
Little started off his South Alabama career with a bang, hitting the first shot of the game just 11 seconds into the contest. Ole Miss made 12 of its first 14 shots in the game and was shooting 87 percent for the first six minutes of the game. USA fell behind by 10 points with 14:21 to play however, back-to-back treys by junior Demetric Bennett cut an 11-point deficit to five with 8:05 to play. The Jags got within one point at 33-32 with 5:08 left in the half.
Ole Miss built the lead back to seven points and settled for a 10-point advantage at halftime at 46-36.
The Jaguars had an impressive 13 points from Little in the opening half and 11 points from Bennett. The Rebels had 15 points from Bam Doyne, who was named Most Valuable Player of the game. Ole Miss shot a blazing 58 percent from the field in the half. USA shot 48 percent for the opening stanza.
Senior Carlos Smith began the second half with a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to seven, but Ole Miss increased its lead to a game-high 19 points with a 17-6 run over the next seven minutes.
The Jaguars would not go away though as they went on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to cut the deficit back to eight with 10:31 to play. Little had an emphatic dunk to cap the run.
“Ernest had the potential to be a force night in and night out,” Pelphrey said. “He has a chance to help make Brandon (Davis) and Kenny (Hooks) better.”
Ole Miss again had the answer as it built the lead back to 16 points with 4:48 to play. The Jaguars would not give up though as they cut the deficit to the final score of 82-72.
“We had some good moments and I thought Ernest Little played very well in his first game and he will have a chance to help us and contribute,” Pelphrey said. “We have some things in place right now, we just need to mesh it together.”
Along with Little, Bennett had 16 points to led the Jags in scoring. As a team, USA was 29 of 62 from the field for 46 percent. Ole Miss had a career-high 28 points from Doyne and 16 from Dwayne Curtis and Clarence Sanders.
“It was good to be back out on the court with new guys and a new coach,” Little said. “It was a great feeling to be back out there after sitting out for almost two years. I just went out and played and got into a flow a few minutes into the game.”
The Jaguars complete the 2006 home portion of the schedule Tuesday against Texas College. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m. USA then opens the Sun Belt Conference slate at Western Kentucky on Dec. 22.
In the second game, No. 9 Alabama and Jermareo Davidson posted a 77-64 win over previously unbeaten Southern Miss. Davidson was one block away from a triple-double scoring 25 points and nine blocks and 11 rebounds. Alonzo Gee added 20 points for Alabama, while Jeremy Wise led Southern Miss with 19 points. After the game, Davidson was honored with the Most Valuable Player award.
