Ole Miss stumbles late, falls at Tennessee

Published 7:55 pm Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Terence Davis scored 14 points while Sebastian Saiz recorded yet another double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds, but Tennessee overwhelmed Ole Miss late for a 75-66 win Wednesday at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Ole Miss took the lead with 5:44 left in the first half and held it until 2:05 remaining in the game when Robert Hubbs’ layup gave Tennessee (14-10, 6-5 Southeastern Conference) a 66-64 lead as part of an 8-0 run for the Volunteers, who ended the game on an 18-4 spurt after trailing 62-57 with 4:50 left. Ole Miss (14-10, 5-6) missed nine of its final 10 shots from the field as the chance for a top-50 RPI road win slipped away.

Hubbs and Grant Williams each scored 18 points for Tennessee with 12 of Williams’ points coming after halftime. Jordan Bowden, who finished with 14 points, knocked down a 3-pointer with 54 seconds left to give the Volunteers a two-possession lead as Tennessee hit four of its final nine 3s.

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Saiz’s 17th double-double of the season helped Ole Miss outrebound Tennessee 46-37 while Breein Tyree added 13 points, but poor shooting and problems holding on to the ball never allowed the Rebels to build a lead of more than five. Ole Miss shot 34 percent (23 of 67) from the field and 31.8 percent (7 of 22) from 3-point range while committing 18 turnovers after turning it over eight times in each of its previous three games.

Leading scorer Deandre Burnett had just eight points on 2 of 13 shooting and turned it over five times. Tyree had four turnovers and just two assists in 23 minutes. Ole Miss finished with just nine assists.

Ole Miss will return home Saturday to host Auburn at 5 p.m. The game will be aired on the SEC Network.