Riley ComdenBoth the men’s and women’s Ole Miss basketball teams suffered losses over the weekend. On Saturday, the men’s team took on in-state rival Mississippi State and lost 56-66, while the women’s team played Texas A&M on Sunday and lost 55-66.
The men are now 12-9 on the season with seven wins and seven losses in conference. Meanwhile, the women are 9-9 on the season with three conference wins and nine losses.
The men’s team couldn’t find a spark in their game against Mississippi State, ending their four-game winning streak.
The bench scored half of the points for Ole Miss, and junior forward KJ Buffen led the way with 13 points, six rebounds and three assists. Junior guard Jarkel Joiner tallied eight points with four rebounds and two assists, and sophomore guards Austin Crowley and Luis Rodriguez each added seven points. The entire Ole Miss team shot 38% from the field.
Mississippi State also found out how to shut down both Joiner and senior guard Devontae Shuler. In addition, the Rebels forced 14 turnovers and scored 19 points off of them. The Bulldogs were able to figure out how to beat Ole Miss’s 1-3-1 defense, which has shut down most teams so far this season.
The men will be back in action on Tuesday, Feb. 23 when they take on Mizzou in Columbia, Mo., at 8 p.m.
Meanwhile, the women’s team narrowly lost to Texas A&M, 55-66. The bench played a huge role in the game for Ole Miss, scoring 29 of the 55 points. In addition, Ole Miss outscored A&M in the paint with 34-24 and in second-chance points, 13-9. Ole Miss also outscored the Aggies in rebounds, 43-34 with 15 offensive rebounds.
“A lot of things went well for us, and a lot didn’t go well for us. Missed opportunities,” head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin said in the press conference. “There were stretches where (Texas A&M) showed a lot of maturity in the fourth quarter. We didn’t answer the call. To beat them, you have to have a complete game, and we didn’t. Our turnovers and fouls just killed us.”
Junior Shakira Austin led the Rebels with 16 points and ten rebounds for her eighth double-double this season. Coming off the bench, junior Taylor Smith scored 12 points with three rebounds, while freshman Madison Scott tallied10 points with six rebounds and one assist.
Ole Miss forced nine turnovers and was able to score eight points off of those. Also, the Rebels shot 35.5% from the field while Texas A&M shot 39.7% from the field. Ole Miss also had three steals and one block.
The Rebels will be back in action this Thursday, Feb. 25 at South Carolina to take on the Gamecocks. Tipoff is set for 12 p.m.
