Ole Miss 80, Northern Arizona 74: Jarvis Summers scored 22 points and the host Rebels used a 13-0 run in the second half to rebuff the Lumberjacks.
Stefan Moody scored 13 points and LaDarius White added 12 for Ole Miss (3-1), which made 30-of-35 from the free-throw line to offset a 2-of-12 performance from 3-point range. Sebastian Saiz contributed eight points and six rebounds as the Rebels won the battle of the boards 42-27.
Quinton Upshur scored 19 while Jaleni Neely registered 17 points and eight assists for Northern Arizona (1-3). Kris Yanku scored 11 while Aaseem Dixon contributed 10 points and six rebounds.
Ole Miss scored the final eight points prior to the break - with six coming on a pair of three-point plays from Summers - and led 37-32 after a first half which featured seven ties and six lead changes. Upshur went to the bench with just under 17 minutes left after picking up his third foul with Northern Arizona trailing 43-38, but the Lumberjacks didn't let the game slip away without him and Upshur returned to bury a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to 52-51 with 11:08 remaining.
M.J. Rhett answered with a dunk and a jumper as the Rebels scored 13 straight points before Northern Arizona's 5:39 scoring drought ended when Dixon made two free throws after absorbing an elbow from Marcanvis Hymon, who was given a flagrant-1 foul. After the Lumberjacks got within 71-66 with 2:26 left on Gaellan Bewernick’s three-point play, Ole Miss made 9-of-11 free throws in the final minute to seal its third straight victory.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Summers has scored 1,290 points - the most among active SEC players. ... Northern Arizona was 13-of-15 from the free-throw line. ... Ole Miss next plays in the Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Fla., on Friday against Creighton and Saturday versus Cincinnati or Middle Tennessee on Saturday.
Northern Arizona | Mississippi | |
Quinton Upshur 19 | Scoring | Jarvis Summers 22 |
Jaleni Neely 8 | Assists | Stefan Moody 3 |
Aaseem Dixon 6 | Rebounds | Martavious Newby 6 |
Kris Yanku 4 | Free Throws Made | Jarvis Summers 10 |
Jaleni Neely 3 | Steals | Stefan Moody 3 |
N/A | Blocks | Aaron Jones 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Northern Arizona | 74 | 37.5 | 13-31 | 13-15 | 18 | 23 | 0 | 6 | 12 |
Mississippi | 80 | 46.2 | 2-12 | 30-35 | 14 | 37 | 4 | 7 | 16 |