No. 10 Missouri falls in an early hole, loses to Mississippi 64-49

OXFORD, Miss. – Missouri's first game without its leading scorer didn't go so well.

Mississippi's Murphy Holloway scored 22 points, Jarvis Summers added 12 and the Rebels easily beat the 10th-ranked Tigers 64-49 on Saturday night.

Senior forward Laurence Bowers missed the game because of he sprained the MCL in his right knee in the league opener against Alabama on Tuesday, and the Tigers (12-3, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) looked lost on that end of the floor without their offensive catalyst.

"They were much tougher than us," Missouri coach Frank Haith said. "They played with much more energy. Their fans were great. I thought that we didn't do things we've done all year — we didn't attack."

Jabari Brown led Missouri with 13 points. Keion Bell added 11 and Phil Pressey scored 10. The Tigers shot just 36.8 percent (21 of 57) from the field.

Bowers is expected to miss at least a week to rest his knee. Pressey said the rest of the team has to play better to make up for his absence.

"Any given night, if we execute like that we're going to get beat," Pressey said. "I put that on ourselves, I put that on me. We've got to execute better. If we play like that it's going to be a long season. But we're going to get back to the drawing board and play like we play."

Holloway scored a game-high 22 points, repeatedly getting his chiseled 6-foot-7, 240-pound body into good position and finishing at the rim, as Mississippi jumped out to a 9-0 lead early and cruised to the surprisingly easy victory.

"He's an all-league player and we were getting the ball to his big, broad shoulders and that left hand," Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. "He's a man. If the season ended today, and I wish it did because we'd be the champions, he would be the league MVP."

Jarvis Summers added 12 points. He and Holloway helped offset a mediocre night from Marshall Henderson, the SEC's leading scorer who finished with only 11 points on 4 of 11 shooting.

Ole Miss (13-2, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) led the entire game, jumping out to an early 9-0 lead thanks to timely shooting and superior defense. Holloway was nearly unstoppable in the paint, making 8 of 12 shots from the field and 6 of 10 free throws.

"You know there's a little extra motivation against the No. 10 team in the nation," Holloway said. "It's motivation. You want to beat them, show them that they're not that good. We had to make those (hustle) plays to beat that team."

Missouri pulled to 41-33 with 16 minutes remaining, but couldn't get any closer. The Rebels' defense was suffocating for most of the night, forcing 19 turnovers. And it seemed like every time there was a loose ball, an Ole Miss player would emerge from the pile with possession.

"I don't think they ever got in an offensive rhythm and that's a tribute to how much effort our guys had defensively," Kennedy said.

The convincing victory capped an impressive week to open SEC play. The Rebels beat Tennessee on the road on Wednesday.

"Right out of the chute we got challenged by a Tennessee team on the road and then we come back to one of the best teams in the country in our own building," Kennedy said. "We just did what we were supposed to do. We protected home floor. If you have any aspirations of playing meaningful basketball in March, that's what you have to do."

The Tigers needed nearly seven minutes to score their first basket. Missouri shot just 11 of 33 (33 percent) in the first half.

Ole Miss wasn't much better on offense early, shooting 38 percent from the field in the first half, but did enough to take a 31-22 lead into halftime. Derrick Millinghaus led the Rebels with 8 first half points, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Henderson scored 32 points in the Rebels' SEC opening victory against Tennessee, but it was obvious that Mizzou had reviewed that game tape, and Tiger defenders were draped all over him every possession. He made just 2 of 8 attempts from 3-point range.

But Holloway picked up the offensive slack, constantly slashing into the lane and finishing with his left hand over taller Missouri defenders. He's the only player in the SEC averaging a double-double and he had another complete game on Saturday, adding eight rebounds, four steals and a blocked shot.

Even without Bowers, Missouri figured to make some sort of run with Earnest Ross, Alex Oriakhi, and Phil Pressey all scoring in double figures this season. But the shots never fell on a consistent basis.

It was a physical game and Ole Miss consistently won the interior battles. The Rebels had 20 attempts from the free throw line, making 15, while Missouri was just 5 of 6.

"We were way too timid and missed a lot of (close shots)," Haith said. "With just 49 points, our offense was really poor."

Ole Miss is not known for raucous basketball crowds, but Tad Smith Coliseum was sold out and loud for this one. The Rebels are 7-19 against ranked opponents under Kennedy.

"It gives us a lot of confidence," Holloway said. "We feel like we can play with anybody now."

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