In a matchup of two teams desperate to halt recent losing streaks, both Texas A&M and Ole Miss exhibited the expected desperation.
But after the visiting Rebels led for the vast majority of the game, the Aggies manufactured a furious late rally to pull out an 80-77 win.
Chris Beard’s squad held a lead from the 10-minute mark of the first half to the 2-minute mark of the second, but it proved to not be enough. Ole Miss failed to score in the final 3-and-a-half minutes of this one, and key buckets from TAMU’s Rashaun Agee pushed the home side ahead down the stretch.
The Rebels were able to remain ahead for much of the night thanks to their open-floor success, as they out-scored the Aggies 23-0 in fast-break points while recording 8 steals. In a sense, Beard & Co. outplayed Bucky McMillan’s team at its own game of ‘Bucky Ball.’
But a plus-14 advantage on the glass and 50 paint points went a long way in allowing TAMU to pull off the rally, with Agee’s double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds leading the way.
AJ Storr enjoyed another productive night off the bench for Ole Miss, as he paced the squad with 21 points while Malik Dia backed him up with an even 20.
Having snapped their five-game losing streak, the Aggies will look to start a new winning streak when they visit Oklahoma at 8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.
On the same day, Ole Miss will return home to welcome the red-hot Florida Gators for a noon ET clash.
Parker is currently the sports editor for the Enterprise-Journal in McComb, Mississippi. He's a graduate from Mizzou who has experience covering the Tiger football and basketball beats for SB Nation, and he's worked for a variety of sports news outlets in the past.
