In a battle of 20-win teams, Mississippi needed a second-half rally and a last-second stop in order to secure an 86-83 victory over Tennessee-Martin on Friday night at The Pavilion at Ole Miss.

Deandre Burnett, a transfer from Miami, led the Rebels (1-0) with 23 points. Terence Davis added a career-high 19 points and Justas Furmanavicius grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds in his Ole Miss debut.

Matthew Butler, a transfer from Rhode Island, drilled 7 of 14 shots from 3-point range on his way to 25 points in his first game for UT Martin (0-1). Jacolby Mobley added 17 points.

Butler missed a game-tying 3-pointer with 0:07 to play. The Skyhawks regained possession, but Mobley's 3-pointer just before the buzzer came up empty as UT- Martin couldn't quite pull off the upset in Anthony Stewart's first game as a head coach at any level.

Both teams started hot and traded the lead during the opening 10 minutes before UT Martin surged in front. The Skyhawks built a 42-33 lead on Mobley's layup with 2:30 left in the half before Ole Miss cut the margin to 42-39 at the break.

The Rebels continued their run in the second half as Rasheed Brooks and Cullen Neal drilled 3-pointers to spark an 8-0 start that gave Ole Miss a 47-42 lead with 18:12 to play. UT Martin never led again but pushed Ole Miss to the finish in the search for the program's first win over an SEC school since knocking off Mississippi State on Dec. 12, 1981.

UT Martin fell to 1-38 all-time against SEC opponents.

Sebastian Saiz, a preseason second-team All-SEC pick by the league’s coaches after averaging 11.7 points and 8.7 rebounds last year, managed just five points and three rebounds before fouling out.