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Ole Miss Shows Fight After Nightmare First Half, but Kentucky Holds On

Published

7 months ago

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Ole Miss senior guard Cotie McMahon lines up a free throw attempt in Sunday's game against No. 2 Texas. | Ole Miss Athletics

This one never lacked drama. No. 14 Ole Miss delivered one of its worst halves of the season, then spent the second trying to claw all the way back against No. 18 Kentucky. Here’s how each half swung the game.

First Half Reaction

That may have been Ole Miss’ worst first half of the season. It was certainly the lowest scoring half this season.

The Rebels made just five field goals in the half, including only one in the second quarter. They closed the half on a brutal stretch of 15 straight missed shots, with nine turnovers, six of their attempts blocked, and just one made three-pointer.

The second quarter was a disaster. Kentucky ripped off a 19-0 run that didn’t end until there were just two minutes left before halftime.

The Wildcats shot incredibly well for most of the half. Carla Stack started 3-for-3 from the field and went into the break with 12 points and six rebounds. Asia Boone was on fire from beyond the three-point arc, hitting 4-of-6 from deep to lead Kentucky with 13 points. Tonnie Morgan, who entered the game with 219 assists on the season, piled up six more in the first half alone.

That hot shooting, combined with Ole Miss going ice cold from the floor, is how Kentucky built a 19-point halftime lead.

Cotie McMahon is 0-for-8 from the field with one rebound. Her only first-half points came on two free throws that finally stopped Kentucky’s scoring run. That trip to the line also marked the start of better play from Ole Miss, which got to the stripe multiple times in the final two minutes.

The Rebels also forced five turnovers in the last four and a half minutes and held Kentucky scoreless for the final three minutes of the half.

We’ve seen Ole Miss pull off a massive comeback before. The Rebels trailed then-No. 18 Notre Dame by 19 and wound up winning 69-62.

So, there’s a blueprint. But it’s going to take a drastically better performance on both ends of the floor for Ole Miss to make this interesting.

Second Half Reaction

The Rebels forced Kentucky turnovers on the Wildcats’ first three possessions of the half, drew fouls, and started winning on the glass. They put together a 6-0 run late in the third quarter, but Kentucky still held a double‑digit lead and had an answer for almost everything Ole Miss produced. The Rebels needed a real scoring burst to make it a game.

That run finally came in the fourth quarter.

Ole Miss held Kentucky scoreless for nearly three minutes and cut the deficit to six with 6:44 remaining. But that was as close as the Rebels would get.

Kentucky responded with the kind of run Ole Miss had been searching for all night — ten straight points, part of a 16-4 closing stretch in which the Wildcats made their final eight field goals.

Stack continued to dominate inside, twisting around defenders for acrobatic finishes and cleaning up the glass. She couldn’t be slowed and finished with 28 points, 12 of them in the second half.

Ole Miss never found sustained offensive rhythm, shooting 35% after halftime and making just two threes. The Rebels did go a perfect 13-for-13 at the free‑throw line, which is a big reason the game tightened late, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Kentucky’s closing punch.

In the end, the hole Ole Miss dug in the first half was simply too deep. The Rebels fought, tightened the game, and made Kentucky uncomfortable, but the Wildcats’ closing burst made sure the comeback never fully materialized and sent the Rebels home with a 74-57 loss.

Ole Miss Top Performers

  • Points: Cotie McMahon, 18
  • Rebounds: Latasha Lattimore, 11
  • Assists: Four players with 2
  • Steals: Christeen Iwuala, 6
  • Blocks: Latasha Lattimore, 3

Next Up

Sunday wasn’t the start of an important four-game gauntlet, but the bright side is there are upcoming opportunities to get back on track. Ole Miss will host No. 22 Tennessee at 6 p.m. Tuesday on ESPNU.

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Basketball

Ole Miss Basketball Appears in First Look at Expanded NCAA Tournament Field

Published

4 months ago

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May 8, 2026

By

Ole Miss Men's Basketball during the game against Mississippi St. at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville, Mississippi on January 17, 2026. | Ole Miss Athletics

Most college sports fans saw Thursday’s news that the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments are expanding to 76 teams. Eight additional teams will be added to what is currently the First Four, turning it into a 24‑team play‑in stage with 12 games across two days. The winners will join the 52 teams already slotted into the traditional first‑round bracket.

We already talked about what expansion means for both Ole Miss programs, and it’s still way too early to know which teams will actually benefit next season. But you know that won’t stop anyone from trying.

NCAA.com analyst Andy Katz posted his first 76‑team projection Friday morning, based on his initial Power 44 rankings for 2026‑27. Katz or his model must really like what Ole Miss has done this offseason. The Rebels show up at No. 39 in the Power 44 and land as a No. 10 seed in the South quadrant.

Again, it’s early. The last season ended a month ago. Ole Miss shouldn’t start booking hotel rooms in Pittsburgh just yet.

Still, this tells us two things about Ole Miss and the new tournament format.

First, it’s going to be hard for a middle‑of‑the‑pack SEC team to miss the field now. Second, if the bracket had been at 76 teams this past season, the committee would’ve had a real decision to make about the Rebels.

Maybe they get in. Maybe they don’t. Did they deserve a spot? Probably not, and adding eight more at‑large bids doesn’t change that much.

But the future looks better now for Ole Miss.

Andy Katz’s Initial Power 44

1. Duke

2. Florida

3. Michigan

4. Illinois

5. Tennessee

6. UConn

7. Arizona

8. Arkansas

9. Texas

10. Michigan State

11. Vanderbilt

12. Virginia

13. Kansas

14. Houston

15. Louisville

16. Alabama

17. Nebraska

18. Iowa State

19. Purdue

20. USC

21. Gonzaga

22. St. John’s

23. Miami (FL)

24. Indiana

25. Missouri

26. VCU

27. Saint Louis

28. UCLA

29. Ohio State

30. BYU

31. Iowa

32. Texas A&M

33. North Carolina

34. Providence

35. Baylor

36. Wisconsin

37. Auburn

38. Xavier

39. Ole Miss

40. Marquette

41. Texas Tech

42. Kentucky

43. Maryland

44. New Mexico

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Basketball

What NCAA Tournament Expansion Means for Ole Miss Basketball

Published

4 months ago

on

May 7, 2026

By

Ole Miss basketball players celebrate a SEC Tournament win against Alabama on Friday night. | Ole Miss Athletics

Missing the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments is about to get a lot harder.

Multiple outlets reported and the NCAA itself announced Thursday that the committees overseeing both tournaments have officially voted to expand the fields to 76 teams.

None of this should catch anyone off guard. The NCAA started exploring expansion about a year ago, and reports two weeks ago made it clear the process was in its final stages. Now it’s done. The new format will debut in 2027.

According to ESPN, top NCAA officials met with the tournament’s media partners to finalize the updated contracts before the vote. The committees required signed agreements before making anything official, and once those were in place, expansion moved forward.

The biggest change comes at the front end of the tournament. Eight additional teams will be added to what is currently the First Four. That round will grow into a 24‑team play‑in stage with 12 games spread across two days. The winners will join the 52 teams already slotted into the traditional first‑round bracket.

The NCAA is expected to rebrand the First Four language, but the structure stays familiar. The opening round will still include both automatic qualifiers and at‑large teams. All 16 seeds and half of the 15 seeds will make up half of the 24‑team group. The other half will come from the lowest‑seeded at‑large teams, including a mix of 11 and 12 seeds.

It’s a significant shift, but the goal is simple: more teams, more access, and fewer seasons ending on Selection Sunday with nothing to show for it.

What This Means for Ole Miss

On the women’s side, this doesn’t move the needle much. Yolett McPhee‑McCuin has raised the bar to the point where simply making the tournament isn’t the goal anymore.

Ole Miss wants to host a NCAA Regional for the first time in program history, and that standard doesn’t change with a bigger field.

The men’s side is a little different. It depends on the year. Two seasons ago, expansion wouldn’t have mattered. This past season, it would’ve changed everything.

Ole Miss finished 15-20 and sat at No. 80 in the NET. In a 76‑team bracket, that puts you on the bubble, and one more win in the SEC Tournament probably gets the Rebels into the field.

For programs in a league as deep as the SEC, the extra spots matter. The women’s side won’t feel much of a shift, but the men’s side absolutely will. Bubble teams in this conference won’t be living on the same razor’s edge anymore.

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Basketball

Ole Miss Basketball Transfer Portal Picture Comes Into Focus

Published

4 months ago

on

May 5, 2026

By

Ole Miss coach Chris Beard

It’s been two weeks since the transfer portal window closed, and after a slow start, Ole Miss is finally nearing the end of its roster‑building phase.

The Rebels have added seven transfers, plus TJ Clark who committed back in December. Four‑star recruits Jaron Saulsberry, Yohance Connor and Daniel Patton are also on the way this summer.

Those 10 newcomers will join Ilias Kamardine and Patton Pinkins, the only returning Rebels, to form the foundation of next year’s roster.

The question is whether that’s enough, and whether Chris Beard is actually done adding.

The honest answer is maybe and probably not.

Nobody knows yet if this group will be better or worse than what Ole Miss just put on the floor.

There’s no headline addition, but that doesn’t mean the roster can’t mesh, grow together and avoid needing a miracle run in March.

There’s also the chance it looks like last season, when the pieces never fully clicked.

Given the current guard‑heavy build, it feels likely Beard will look for more frontcourt help. Stefan Cicic gives Ole Miss a true 7‑footer and Santiago Trouet adds more size, but the Rebels could still use another proven interior presence.

One name to watch is former Florida Atlantic forward Devin Williams, who has reportedly met with Ole Miss over Zoom and is visiting Arizona this week. Williams finished fifth nationally in blocks last season at 2.58 per game, which would give Beard a real defensive anchor inside.

In the end, Ole Miss won’t know what this roster really is until the group gets on the floor together, but the picture is at least starting to take shape.

Beard has rebuilt almost the entire program for the second straight offseason, and there’s still room for one or two more pieces to round it out.

Whether this version ends up being better, worse, or simply different from last year’s team is impossible to know in May, but the next additions will tell us plenty about how the Rebels plan to finish the job.

Ole Miss Basketball Transfer Portal Tracker

Men

Outgoing

Incoming

  • Christian Brown, F, 6-8, Fr. (James Madison)
  • Stefan Cicic, C, 7-0, Fr. (Pepperdine)
  • Adam Clark, G, 5-10, Jr. (Seton Hall)
  • TJ Clark, G, 6-3 (Hermosillo)
  • Dasear Haskins, G, 6-8, So. (St. Joseph’s)
  • ND Okafor, F, 6-7, Jr. (Washington State)
  • Roman Siulepa, F, 6-6, Fr. (Pittsburgh)
  • Santiago Trouet, F, 6-10, Jr. (Arizona State)

Women

Outgoing

  • J’Adore Young, 6-4, C, Soph.
  • Sira Thinenou, 6-1, F, Soph.
  • Tianna Thompson, 5-10, G, Soph. (Baylor)

Incoming

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