Tye Fagan scored 16 of his game-high 20 points in the second half against his former team to help Mississippi snap a four-game losing streak and defeat Georgia 85-68 on Saturday at Athens, Ga.
Jaemyn Brakefield scored 19 points and Austin Crowley added 18 for the Rebels (13-14, 4-10 SEC), who scored the last seven points of the first half to take the lead for good before pulling away after halftime. Nysier Brooks added 10 points for Ole Miss.
Fagan, who averaged 9.2 points for the Bulldogs last year and played three seasons for Georgia, had five assists. Fagan entered the game averaging 7.1 points this season and was playing against his former school for the first time. Crowley and Luis Rodriguez also contributed five assists for the Rebels.
Braelen Bridges scored 17 points, Kario Oquendo had 14 and Jabri Abdur-Rahim added 11 for Georgia (6-21, 1-3), which dropped its seventh consecutive game.
Ole Miss steadily built on its four-point halftime lead. Brakefield's 3-pointer put the Rebels ahead 49-42 with 16:54 remaining, but Georgia cut the deficit to 49-45 with 15:12 remaining. Fagan's 3-pointer with 12:13 to go put the Rebels ahead 58-49.
Ole Miss extended its lead to double digits when Crowley made two free throws with 8:02 left for a 66-56 lead. The Rebels pushed the advantage to as many as 20 points with two minutes remaining.
Both teams were solid offensively in the first half. The Rebels shot 18-for-34 (52.9 percent) in the opening 20 minutes and the Bulldogs shot 15-for-26 (57.7 percent). Ole Miss led for most of the half until Noah Baumann sank a 3-pointer while being fouled. He then made the free throw to put the Bulldogs ahead 30-29 with 6:30 to go in the half.
There were five more lead changes for the rest of the half. Ole Miss had the last word before the break, outscoring Georgia, 7-0 in the final 2:04 to go into the half with a 42-38 advantage.
--Field Level Media
Mississippi | Georgia | |
Tye Fagan 20 | Scoring | Braelen Bridges 17 |
Austin Crowley 5 | Assists | Braelen Bridges 5 |
Nysier Brooks 6 | Rebounds | Noah Baumann 6 |
Nysier Brooks 4 | Free Throws Made | Jabri Abdur-Rahim 4 |
Tye Fagan 4 | Steals | Jaxon Etter 1 |
Nysier Brooks 4 | Blocks | Braelen Bridges 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Mississippi | 85 | 55.9 | 9-21 | 10-11 | 18 | 23 | 6 | 8 | 7 |
Georgia | 68 | 48.0 | 3-10 | 17-21 | 18 | 22 | 2 | 3 | 13 |