National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Mississippi 80, Tennessee Tech 63
When: 4:00 PM ET, Sunday, December 29, 2019
Where: The Pavilion at Ole Miss, Oxford, Mississippi
Officials: # Wil Howard, # Owen Shortt, # Randy Heimerman
Attendance: 7261

Devontae Shuler and KJ Buffen had 20 points apiece as Mississippi pulled away in the second half to beat visiting Tennessee Tech 80-63 on Sunday afternoon in Oxford, Miss.

It was the fourth straight win for the Rebels (9-3), who improved to 10-1 in December games under second-year coach Kermit Davis. The lone loss was at home to then-unbeaten Baylor on Dec. 3.

Shuler, a junior guard, was 8 of 12 from the field and added five rebounds and five assists. Buffen, a sophomore forward, made 6 of 12 shots and 7 of 8 free throw attempts to go with eight rebounds.

That duo helped offset a down afternoon for senior guard Breein Tyree, Ole Miss' leading scorer who had nine points and made only 1 of 6 3-pointers.

Tennessee Tech, which hasn't beaten a power-conference team since winning at Oregon State in 2007, was led by senior guard Darius Allen and sophomore guard Jr. Clay, both of whom had 13 points.

Tennessee Tech (3-10) led 32-31 at halftime but went the final 2:53 of the first half without scoring, allowing Ole Miss to cut into a five-point edge. The Rebels got hot from the perimeter in the second half, making four of their first six attempts from behind the arc after going 1 for 12 in the first half.

The hot second-half shooting helped open the interior for the Rebels. A layup by Shuler with 12:28 to go gave Ole Miss a 52-41 lead, then a 13-0 run produced entirely from baskets within the paint upped the margin to 67-47 after a basket by senior forward Khadim Sy with 6:38 left.

Ole Miss made 23 of 32 two-pointers in shooting 54.5 percent overall, including 69.2 percent in the second half.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Tennessee Tech   Mississippi
Darius Allen 13 Scoring KJ Buffen 20
Keishawn Davidson 4 Assists Austin Crowley 5
Hunter Vick 5 Rebounds Blake Hinson 10
Darius Allen 2 Free Throws Made KJ Buffen 7
Darius Allen 1 Steals KJ Buffen 2
Jared Sherfield 1 Blocks KJ Buffen 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Tennessee Tech 63 40.0 7-18 8-10 13 27 2 5 10
Mississippi 80 54.5 7-23 13-21 22 34 4 5 11