Ole Miss continued the nonconference slate with an SEC/ACC Challenge game against the Hurricanes of Miami inside the friendly confines of the John and Sandy Black Pavilion. Tuesday night was the first chance for Ole Miss to come together as one united front after the events of the prior weekend, where they saw former Head Coach Lane Kiffin burn the bridge to no return when he decided that leaving Ole Miss on the verge of a College Football Playoff bid would be the best thing to maintain his ego. For Ole Miss fans, that’s why Tuesday night’s basketball game with Miami meant just a bit more than normal, as it would be the first time to come together as one to cheer on the Rebels, while welcoming Pete Golding as the next Head Coach of the Ole Miss Rebels football program. 

Miami came into the game with Ole Miss fresh off a win over Georgetown, and looking to carry the mometum as they sat out to improve to 7-2 on the season. 

At the under-16 first-half media timeout, Ole Miss and Miami remained grindlocked at 4-4. At the under-12 first media timeout, it was the Rebels holding on to an 11-10 lead over Miami. Miami took the lead during the under-8 media timeout, extending that lead to 18-14 over Ole Miss. Miami had extended its lead 31-21 over Ole Miss at the final media timeout of the first half. At halftime, Miami led Ole Miss 42-26. 

Just a really bad half of basketball for the Rebels, with the high point coming from the seven points from Malik Dia. Ole Miss shot just 26% from the field while the Hurricanes finished the first half shooting 47% from the field. 

At the first media timeout of the second half, Ole Miss had cut the Miami lead to 13 by cutting it to 49-36 with 16:28 to play in the game. At the under-12 media timeout, it was the Miami Hurricanes holding on to a 54-44 lead over the Rebels with 11:50 remaining in the game. Miami extended the lead to 60-49 at the under-8 media timeout of the second half. At the final media timeout of the game, the Miami lead had extended to 69-55 over the Rebels with 3:39 left in the game. 

Despite the celebrations over the hiring of Coach Pete Golding, the basketball Rebels were unable to maintain the momentum as Miami came to Oxford and dominated. Ole Miss just didn’t have an answer, from a lackluster defense that allowed easy Hurricanes baskets to questionable shot selections, the Rebels were unable to keep up with Miami on Tuesday night. With the loss, Ole Miss dropped to 5-3 on the season. 

Ole Miss will return to action on Saturday night as they travel to New York to face St. John’s. 

Photo Credits- Ole Miss Basketball on X