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SEC Football

3 takeaways from Mississippi State’s gritty OT win over Ole Miss

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:


Mississippi State and Ole Miss met Saturday night in a rivalry game between 2 teams coming off opposite streaks.

Ole Miss entered the game winners of their last 4 to open the SEC slate undefeated. Meanwhile, Mississippi State had dropped back-to-back games and is in the middle of 4 straight games against ranked conference foes.

However, it was Mississippi State on this night who opened as the hungrier team on both ends of the floor. And while Ole Miss clawed its way all the way back to tie things up and force overtime, the Rebels could not pull off the win on the road.

Here are the key takeaways from MSU’s 84-81 bounce-back win over Ole Miss:

A true game of runs

At the start of this game, it looked like Mississippi State might run away with the evening after opening on an 11-0 run against Ole Miss. The Bulldogs pushed things all the way to 18-4 before the Rebels were able to stabilize, but once they did, they slowly chipped away at things.

Ole Miss would close things to 37-29 at halftime with Sean Pedulla hitting a pair of 3-pointers in the final couple of minutes before the break. Once into the 2nd half, the Rebels kept things close the entire way and didn’t allow Mississippi State to pull away.

Matt Murrell eventually sent the game to overtime by tying things at 74-all with a deep 3-pointer:

Ole Miss would finally take a slim lead in overtime, though it was one that did not last long. Mississippi State ended the game on a 8-4 run with 4 different Bulldogs contributing to the effort.

Rebound battle, points in the paint loom large

Ole Miss was able to remain in this one with 13 made 3-pointers, but Mississippi State controlled this game on the glass and in the paint all night longer.

The rebound battle was dominated by the Bulldogs with a 51-to-29 edge, including a major win in the offensive rebounding department. MSU also had a 19-to-6 edge in 2nd-chance points.

And while Ole Miss was able to hit some big shots to claw back into things, MSU piled up a 40-24 edge in points in the paint. That’s the kind of dominance that allowed MSU to lead the game for 40:08 minutes of the 45 minutes of game time.

Chris Jans undefeated vs. Ole Miss at home

Ask any head coach, and they’ll tell you rivalry games carry a different importance. Chris Jans understands that, and he’s excelled early on in his games against Ole Miss.

Saturday’s win moves Jans to 3-0 vs. Ole Miss in Starkville and is now 4-1 overall in games against the Rebels. That’s the kind of performance you want in rivalry games, and it came at a perfect time for MSU.

The Bulldogs entered Saturday’s game with back-to-back losses in SEC play (both to top-10 teams), and they must turn right around for a midweek matchup vs. No. 6 Tennessee. That stretch of 4 straight ranked matchups (Ole Miss was No. 21) meant MSU needed a win in a bad way.

Jans had his guys ready, and they put an end to Ole Miss’s undefeated start in SEC play. Now, we’ll see how the Bulldogs can regroup further heading toward the end of January.

Paul Harvey

Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.

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