College basketball roundup: Ole Miss, Southern Miss, Jackson State win on Rivalry Saturday

Published 10:14 pm Saturday, January 12, 2019

STARKVILLE (AP) — Blake Hinson strolled onto his rival’s home court, hit a few huge 3-pointers, scored a career-high 26 points and looked like he had the time of his life doing it.

If the Ole Miss freshman had any nerves in a big Southeastern Conference road game, he sure didn’t show it.

Hinson poured in basket after basket, Breein Tyree added 19 points, and Ole Miss rallied for an 81-77 win over No. 14 Mississippi State on Saturday. With a wide grin and relaxed demeanor, Hinson acted like the breakout performance was something he does every day.

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“It was super fun,” Hinson said. “I love basketball, and this was a great basketball atmosphere. I was loving every part of it.”

Ole Miss (13-2, 3-0 SEC) won its 10th straight, continuing its surprising run of great basketball under first-year coach Kermit Davis.

Mississippi State (12-3, 0-2) had a two-point lead at halftime and stretched that advantage to 48-39 in the opening minutes of the second half. But the Rebels wouldn’t go away — Hinson hit three straight 3-pointers at one point — and Ole Miss pulled ahead 70-62 with seven minutes left.

“We did obviously a horrible job on Blake Hinson,” Mississippi State coach Ben Howland said. “We knew what he was. He’s a 3-point shooter. He really got going.”

The Bulldogs rallied, and Nick Weatherspoon hit a 3-pointer with 1:22 left to tie it at 77. The Rebels finally went ahead for good when Tyree made a driving layup with about 50 seconds left, quieting a crowd that topped 10,000.

The 6-foot-7 Hinson made 8 of 16 shots, including 5 of 11 from 3-point range. Terence Davis added 12 points. Tyree had a good game — and hit some clutch shots in the final minutes — despite a left shoulder injury early in the contest that kept him off the court for a few minutes.

“In a game like that,” Tyree said. “Adrenaline takes over. While I was on the court, no pain.”

Mississippi State used a 14-0 run midway through the first half to take a 32-21 lead, but Ole Miss closed the gap to 41-39 by halftime. Quinndary Weatherspoon had 11 points in the first half for the Bulldogs. Hinson and Devontae Shuler both scored 10 for the Rebels.

Mississippi State was led by Quinndary Weatherspoon’s 18 points. Lamar Peters added 16.

It was a rowdy atmosphere at Humphrey Coliseum for one of the best games between these rivals in a decade. That passion sometimes turned into shenanigans — Ole Miss earned three technical fouls while Mississippi State had one.

Kermit Davis had a lot of good things to say about his team after Saturday’s win, but he wasn’t happy with that development.

“We deserved it,” Davis said. “I apologize. I haven’t had player technicals in a long, long, long time. … You’ve got to compose yourself. That’s on me. We’ll get that one fixed.”

Southern Miss 73, UAB 68
LaDavius Draine scored 19 points and his go-ahead 3-pointer with 36 seconds left sent Southern Miss past UAB 73-68 on Saturday.

Draine made 5 of 8 3-point attempts. He entered the game shooting 45.6 percent from beyond the arc, which ranked fourth in Conference USA.

Zack Bryant’s layup with 62 seconds left gave UAB its last lead at 68-66. Leonard Harper-Baker closed out the scoring for Southern Miss (10-7, 2-3 Conference USA) with a 3-point play and made 1 of 2 free throws. Harper-Barker had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Cortez Edwards scored 18 points.

The Eagles made 11 of 26 from distance to help offset the Blazers’ control of the interior as UAB outscored the Eagles 40-18 inside.

Lewis Sullivan led UAB (10-7, 2-2) with 14 points.

Jackson State 59, Alcorn State, 52
Venjie Wallis scored 12 points, and Chris Howell and Jontrell Walker each scored 10 as Jackson State beat Alcorn State 59-52 on Saturday.

It was the third game this season Wallis has led Jackson State in scoring. The Tigers have won three of their last four and Alcorn State now owns a five-game losing streak.

Deshaw Andrews made a pair of foul shots to put the Braves ahead 47-44 with 4:08 left. Howell responded with a layup and a pair of free throw, and Jackson State (5-11, 2-1 Southwestern Athletic Conference) led for the remainder. Wallis followed with a jumper and Dontelius Ross made a pair of free throws to make it 52-47 with 52 seconds left.

Andrews and Reginal Johnson led Alcorn State (4-11, 0-3) with 12 points each — Andrews had six rebounds — and Maurice Howard 11.

Mississippi Valley State 72, Alabama A&M 63
Jordan Evans scored 17 points with three 3-pointers, Gregory Jones-Rollins added 16 with four 3s, and Mississippi Valley State beat Alabama A&M 72-63 on Saturday to end a seven-game losing streak.

Michael Green scored 11 points for the Delta Devils (3-13, 1-1 Southwestern Athletic Conference), who made 13-of-26 from 3-point range and shot 48 percent overall. Tre Todd scored 21 points for Alabama A&M (2-15, 1-2).

Belhaven 90, Texas-Tyler 66
Brosnan Cooks had a monster game, totaling 15 points, 14 rebounds and six assists to lead Belhaven to a 90-66 rout of Texas-Tyler on Saturday.

Kelvin Pruitt added 20 points and seven rebounds for Belhaven (7-7), and Justin Jones scored 14 points. The Blazers hit 11 3-pointers in the game, shot 50 percent from the field, and opened a 22-point lead at halftime as they snapped a two-game losing streak.

Delta State 88, Valdosta State 83
Three players turned in double-doubles, led by Justin Slocum’s 24 points and 17 rebounds, as Delta State defeated Valdosta State 88-83 on Saturday.

The Statesmen (11-4, 7-1 Gulf South Conference) earned their sixth straight conference victory and took control of first place in the league standings. Brett Warner (22), Cedric Harper (14), and Armon Benford (10) joined Slocum in double figures. Harper and Benford also had 10 rebounds apiece.

West Florida 72, Mississippi College 59
Mississippi College could not overcome a game-opening 13-0 run by West Florida as the Argonauts went on to pick up a 72-59 victory Saturday in Clinton. The Choctaws (4-8, 1-6 Gulf South Conference) were just 10-of-36 shooting from the floor in the first half.

Saturday’s Mississippi college scores
Ole Miss 81, Mississippi St. 77
Mississippi Valley St. 72, Alabama A&M 63
Jackson St. 59, Alcorn St. 52
Belhaven 90, Texas-Tyler 66
Southern Miss 73, UAB 68
Delta St. 88, Valdosta St. 83
West Florida 72, Mississippi College 59