Dogs comeback to bite Rebs
By By Will Bardwell / staff writer
Jan. 8, 2004
OXFORD Mississippi State picked the right time for a scoring drought, and Ole Miss didn't.
After falling behind by as many as 12 points in the first half, the 22nd-ranked Bulldogs took advantage of Ole Miss' shooting woes late in the second half to take a 61-54 win over the Rebels.
Ole Miss led 49-39 with eight minutes left in the game, but Mississippi State held the Rebels without a field goal for the next six minutes. Justin Reed's layup with 2:03 left brought Ole Miss to within three points after a 16-1 Bulldogs; run, but it was the last basket the Rebels scored until only 26 seconds remained.
The Bulldogs also gave Ole Miss all the Timmy Bowers the Rebels could handle. After Ole Miss built its 10-point lead, Bowers scored 11 of Mississippi State's last 22 points.
Bowers finished with a game-high 18 points on 5-of-12 shooting.
The Bulldogs' energy may have put the Rebels away late in the game, but it began Ole Miss' downfall mere seconds after halftime ended. The Rebels led 29-19 when the second half started. Seventy-seven seconds later, the Bulldogs trailed by just one point.
Mississippi State shot just 32 percent from the field in the first half. For the rest of the game, the Bulldogs blistered the nets with 58 percent shooting.
Though the Rebels re-built a double-digit lead, they dropped in just nine field goals in the second half. Over the same span, Ole Miss gave up more than twice as many points in the second half as it did in the first half.
The Bulldogs also used their size advantage over the Rebels after halftime. In the first half, Ole Miss forward Tommie Eddie ripped down 11 rebounds. Over the rest of the game, he had just one.
Mississippi State jumped out to a three-point lead early in the game, but Ole Miss took a 10-9 lead six minutes into the game on a jumper by Reed. The Bulldogs did not lead again until Brandon Vincent hit a layup with 4:26 remaining, giving Mississippi State a 51-49 edge.
The Rebels, now 8-4 overall and 0-1 in the SEC, were led by Reed and Eddie with 13 points each.
