OXFORD, Miss. – South Alabama Men's Basketball fought hard and held Ole Miss to 33 percent shooting from the floor but fell 64-54 Tuesday night at Tad Smith Coliseum.  The Jags dropped to 1-2 on the season with the loss, while the Rebels improved to 3-0 overall.

Judah Brown was lights out from three-point range once again, leading the Jags with 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field with four three-pointers. Myles Corey had another strong outing, finishing with 14 points on a team-best 6-of-10 shooting with five assists. 

The Jags played solid defensively, holding Ole Miss to 32.8 percent from the floor, 34.2 percent from three-point range, and 14 points in the paint. 

"We guarded the ball really well tonight," said head coach Richie Riley. "If we guard like this, it will give us a chance to win any game on our schedule. Offensively, their strength bothered us, and we struggled to make shots. We are getting more comfortable out here but we have to keep putting things together." 

South struggled to find consistency in the first half despite 10 quick points from Brown. Ole Miss outscored the Jags 14-2 in the final four minutes of the half to take a 38-26 at the break. 

The Jags opened the second half strong with a 7-3 run off a corner pocket three ball from Dylan Fasoyiro and a one-handed slam courtesy of Corey to cut the lead to single digits 41-33 at the 17:06 mark. 

Ole Miss answered with a 7-2 run of its own to extend its lead back to 13 points, but the Jags would not go away as Brown hit his fourth three-pointer of the game, and Barry Dunning Jr. cut to the rim with force to draw an And-one to bring the deficit to five, 48-43, with 11:43 left on the clock. 

Both sides would trade blows down the stretch when the Jags pulled within three points 55-52 at the 4:00 minute mark with a John Broom layup on a back door cut. That would be the closest South would get as the Rebels knocked down three straight triples in the next two minutes to help clinch a 64-54 victory.

Notes

• The Jags controlled the paint throughout the night, scoring 20 points to the Rebels 13.
• South outscored Ole Miss's bench 20 to 13.
• Corey scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half.
• Broom had another impressive game on the boards, grabbing eight rebounds for the third straight game.
• Fasoyiro earned a new career-high with three blocks in tonight's game.
• Corey has totaled 24 assists in the first three games.
• South Alabama set a new season-high with six blocks in tonight's contest.

Up Next

South Alabama will open a six-game home stand, starting with Mercer on Saturday, Nov.16 at 3 p.m. before welcoming Spring Hill on Monday, Nov.18 at 7 p.m.

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