Breein Tyree’s 24 lead Ole Miss past Mississippi State in overtime

Published 11:30 pm Tuesday, February 21, 2017

It took a little more time than usual, but Ole Miss kept its winning ways going against its biggest rival Tuesday.

Freshman Breein Tyree scored a career-high 24 points, Sebastian Saiz had 23 points and 10 rebounds, and Ole Miss held off Mississippi State 87-82 in overtime at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville. The Rebels have won seven of the last eight games in the series.

It was also the 250th career win for Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy.

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Ole Miss (17-11, 8-7 Southeastern Conference) led 61-52 with 3:36 left in regulation following a pair of free throws from Saiz, who had his first double-double in four games, but I.J. Ready capped a 15-6 run for Mississippi State (14-13, 5-10) with a layup with less than two seconds left to force extra time.

But Tyree scored the first eight points in overtime to put the Rebels in control for good. Tyree finished 9 of 15 from the floor and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line, where Ole Miss shot 34 of 44 as a team to help offset 21 turnovers, 21.7 percent shooting (5 of 23) from 3-point range and a minus-1 rebounding disadvantage.

Deandre Burnett shot just 1 of 13 from the floor but went 8 of 8 from the charity stripe to finish with 10 points. Terence Davis added 12 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.

Ready led four Mississippi State players in double figures with 20 points. Mario Kegler had 15 points while Quinddary Weatherspoon chipped in 14.

The Bulldogs shot 41.9 percent from the field but weren’t much better from deep, making just 25 percent (6 of 24) of their attempts from the 3-point line, while missing 11 of their 25 free throws. Ole Miss also forced Mississippi State into 22 turnovers.

Rare company

Kennedy wasn’t the only one to hit a milestone against the Bulldogs.

Saiz’s 18th double-double of the season put him past 1,000 points and 900 rebounds for his career. The senior joined Murphy Holloway as the the only two players in program history to reach those totals in a career.

Ole Miss will return home Saturday to take on Missouri at 2:30 p.m.