National Basketball Association
Mississippi 76, South Carolina 59
When: 9:30 PM ET, Thursday, March 11, 2021
Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Officials:
# Steve Anderson, # Owen Shortt, # Terry Oglesby
Attendance:
1809
By Field Level Media
Jarkel Joiner scored 18 points as Ole Miss strengthened its case for a potential NCAA at-large bid with a 76-59 victory over South Carolina in the second round of the SEC tournament Thursday night in Nashville, Tenn.
Romello White added 17 points and Devontae Shuler, who was named first-team All-SEC earlier in the week, had 15 as the sixth-seeded Rebels (16-10) won their third consecutive game and eighth of 10. They defeated the Gamecocks 81-74 on Feb. 13 in Columbia, S.C.
The Rebels will face third-seeded LSU in the quarterfinals Friday night.
Jaylin McCreary scored 15 points, Wildens Leveque added 14 and AJ Lawson had 12 to lead the 11th-seeded Gamecocks, who finished 6-15 after losing for the ninth time in 10 games.
South Carolina shot just 35.6 percent (21 of 59) on field goals, including 18.2 percent (2 of 11) on 3-pointers, as well as 68.2 percent (15 of 22) on free throws.
Ole Miss held a 15-point halftime lead, but South Carolina started the second half with an 8-2 run to get within 43-34 after three minutes.
Joiner made a basket and added a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 52-36.
The Gamecocks cut the deficit to 12 points twice, but Matthew Murrell made back-to-back layups for the Rebels.
Shuler made a field goal and assisted on another by White as Ole Miss increased its lead to 68-50 with 3:49 remaining.
The lead changed hands four times and the score was tied three times in the early going, the last deadlock coming at 15-all.
Murrell's 3-pointer broke the tie and gave the Rebels the lead for good, though the Gamecocks twice got within two points before going cold.
Ole Miss closed the half with a 14-2 run as South Carolina made just one field goal in the last 7 1/2 minutes. That left the Rebels with a 41-26 halftime lead.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| South Carolina |
|
Mississippi |
|
Jalyn McCreary 15 |
Scoring |
Jarkel Joiner 18 |
|
T.J. Moss 6 |
Assists |
Devontae Shuler 5 |
|
Wildens Leveque 6 |
Rebounds |
KJ Buffen 9 |
|
Jalyn McCreary 7 |
Free Throws Made |
Jarkel Joiner 6 |
|
A.J. Lawson 2 |
Steals |
Luis Rodriguez 2 |
|
Jalyn McCreary 3 |
Blocks |
Romello White 3 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| South Carolina
|
59 |
35.6 |
2-11 |
15-22 |
10 |
28 |
3 |
4 |
9 |
| Mississippi
|
76 |
48.3 |
5-15 |
15-19 |
14 |
39 |
7 |
5 |
11 |