COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Matthew Murrell made five 3-pointers and scored 23 points, Jayveous McKinnis had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Mississippi beat South Carolina 70-58 on Tuesday night for the Rebels’ first SEC victory this season.
It was the first SEC win for Ole Miss (9-9, 1-5) since beating Georgia on Feb. 19 before losing its final four conference games last season.
Murrell scored 16 of his points in the second half, including 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to extend the Ole Miss lead to 55-42 with 4:16 left. He finished two points shy of his season high.
Freshman Amaree Abram added eight points and James White, making his second career start, had seven points for Ole Miss, which plays No. 25 Arkansas on Saturday.
Ole Miss led 30-20 at the break after holding South Carolina to 30% shooting. The Gamecocks went seven-plus minutes without making a field goal and closed the half making just two of their final 14 shots.
Ole Miss went on a 10-0 run in the second half, with five straight points from TJ Caldwell, to take a 45-31 lead with 11 minutes left.
Star freshman Gregory Jackson II scored 15 points on 5-of-20 shooting and Chico Carter Jr. added 12 points for South Carolina (8-10, 1-4). The Gamecocks shot 37% from the field and were outrebounded 43-31.
___
More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25