Rebels’ SEC opener slips away after midgame scoring lulls

The first SEC game for Ole Miss could’ve been better, but it also could’ve been a lot worse.

The Rebels played a decent game on the road, but ultimately fell 86-70 to Oklahoma. At times the Rebels played really well.

The start of the game was really good. Ole Miss was shooting above 70 percent from the field and exchanged the lead with the Sooners multiple times.

However, the Rebels would cool off significantly while Oklahoma was more consistent.

Ole Miss held a 24-21 lead midway through the first half, but went scoreless for the next seven minutes. When the Rebels broke the scoring drought they trailed 32-24 and would never regain the lead.

It wasn’t the only scoring drought of significance for Ole Miss. The final 3:37 of the game saw Ole Miss score just four points, all from the free throw line.

Before that the Rebels had an opportunity to steal the win away from Oklahoma.

With 8:08 left in the game, Ilias Kamardine made a pair of free throws to make the score 65-62. The Rebels couldn’t take advantage and were outscored 21-8 after Kamardine’s free throws.

For the game, Ole Miss shot 38 percent from the field (23-of-61) and was 10-of-26 on three-pointers. Ole Miss also lost the rebounding battle, 40-33.

Bright Spot

If any good comes from Ole Miss’s loss to Oklahoma, it’s what it might’ve found in Patton Pinkins. The true freshman had his best game of his young career, scoring a game-high 25 points while making 9-of-11 field goals and 4-of-6 three-pointers.

His previous best game was against Utah more than a month ago when he scored 14 points (5-of-9).

Pinkins’ impact on Saturday’s game is obvious, but considering how this season has gone, so far, the Rebels could use Pinkins to continue this pace.

Top Performers

• Patton Pinkins: 25 points (9/11 FG), 4-6 3PT, 3 rebounds
• Malik Dia: 17 points (6/17), 6 rebounds
• Ilias Kamardine: 9 points (2/7), 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals
• AJ Storr: 8 points (3/14), 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal

Next Up

Life in the SEC isn’t easy with good teams showing up one after another. That holds true for Ole Miss this week. The Rebels will host No. 18 Arkansas on Wednesday. The Razorbacks won their SEC opener against No. 19 Tennessee, 86-75.

Tipoff at SJB Pavillion is scheduled for 8 p.m. and will be televised on SEC Network.