OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss’ Sean Pedulla’s three-pointer bounced on the rim multiple times before falling deftly off. Jaemyn Brakefield beat Tennessee’s front line to the ball for the Rebels’ 11th second half offensive rebound before putting it in for his 19th point of the second half.
Tennessee basketball fell just short 78-76 at Ole Miss as the game winning bucket epitomized all that went wrong for the Vols in the second half on Wednesday night.
No Alabama Hangover For Tennessee
Going on the road after winning a highly emotional game against Alabama on Saturday, there was reason to wonder if Tennessee would come out sharp and ready to go against Ole Miss especially given the Vols’ slow starts in a number of games this season.
But that wasn’t the case. Tennessee came out ready to roll and played well from the jump aided by a strong three-of-six start from three-point range. The game was back-and-forth for the first five minutes than Tennessee took control with a 12-4 run before the under 12 timeout.
Turnovers have been an issue for Tennessee to start games and that was a specific concern against an Ole Miss team that switches every screen and forces an abundance of turnovers. In fact, Bishop Boswell even gave Tennessee three solid minutes while Zakai Zeigler was on the bench.
Darlinstone Dubar and Jahmai Mashack were a big part of avoiding that hangover as the two combined to scored 14 points in the second half. Tennessee was unable to finish the job in the second half but it wasn’t because of a hangover.
Ole Miss Has Unusual Offensive Rebounding Success
There was nowhere Tennessee had a bigger statistical advantage entering the game than on the glass. Ole Miss entered the night as the SEC’s worst offensive rebounding team and the first half played out that way.
Tennessee out-rebounded the Rebels 20-13 in the first half with Ole Miss grabbing four offensive boards.
But things completely flipped in the second half. Ole Miss totaled 11 second half offensive rebounds and turned it into 11 second chance points. Tennessee did not bring the physicality they needed at the rim in the game’s final 20 minutes to earn the win.
And after grabbing six offensive rebounds in the first half, Tennessee totaled only two in the second half.
Ole Miss’ ability to control the physicality of the game was unexpected and its biggest source of sustained success. And with the game tied in the final seconds, the Rebels scored what proved to be the game deciding basket off of an offensive rebound.
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Tennessee Unable To Get Needed Stops Down The Stretch
Tennessee’s offense played well just about the entirety of the game but it was the Vols inability to get stops down the stretch that cost them.
The poor defensive rebounding was a part of that but Ole Miss’ first shot offense was also really good. Tennessee had no answers for Ole Miss forward Jaemyn Brakefield who was stellar in the second half, scoring all19 of his points in the game’s final 20 minutes.
Okpara was guarding Brakefield for the first stretch and the forward put the ball on the floor and scored at the basket. Tennessee switched Jahmai Mashack on him and the defense was better but Brakefield hit some tough shots over Mashack and through the contact.
The end results was Ole Miss scoring 22 points in the game’s final nine including five straight possessions with a bucket when the game was decided. One crucial bucket came with Ole Miss inbounding the ball under Tennessee’s bucket with one second left on the shot clock.
Box Score
Up Next
Tennessee basketball returns home on Saturday when they’ll face South Carolina on Senior Day. Tipoff from Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center is at 2 p.m. ET. The SEC Network is broadcasting the game.
