College basketball roundup: Kentucky beats MSU in double overtime; Ole Miss, USM stumble at home

Published 8:48 pm Saturday, January 2, 2021

STARKVILLE — Dontaie Allen finished with a game-high 23 points, including eight in overtime, as Kentucky beat Mississippi State 78-73 in double overtime Saturday.

Allen made a game-tying 3-pointer with 1:08 remaining in the first overtime, and then a jumper and another 3-pointer in the second. Kentucky outscored Mississippi State 8-2 in the first 2 1/2 minutes of the second overtime to finally take control of the game.

Mississippi State went 1-for-5 from the field in the second overtime. D.J. Stewart, who led the Bulldogs with 19 points, scored all five of their points in the second overtime.

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Iverson Molinar finished with 17 points and five assists for Mississippi State (6-4, 1-1 Southeastern Conference), while Jalen Johnson scored 14 points. Tolu Smith had seven points and 12 rebounds.

Olivier Sarr had a double-double for Kentucky (2-6, 1-0), with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Devin Askew and Brandon Boston Jr. scored 11 points apiece.

Kentucky beat Mississippi State for the 15th consecutive time, and ended its own six-game losing streak this season ­— the program’s longest since the 1988-89 season.

It also snapped Mississippi State’s 13-game home winning streak, which had been the longest active streak in the SEC.

Wichita State 83, Ole Miss 79
Tyson Etienne scored a career-high 29 points, making a season-best five 3-pointers, and Wichita State battled past Ole Miss on Saturday.

The 29 points was double Etienne’s season average of 15.3 a game. He scored 19 in the second half, with 11 of the Shockers’ 13 points during one stretch to almost single-handedly keep the game tight while Ole Miss led for most of the final period.

Etienne scored a layup and a 3-pointer to push Wichita State (6-2) over the top, 73-71 with 4:47 remaining. Trey Wade hit, appropriately, a 3 as the Shockers tied 76-76, and Etienne’s free throws gave them the lead for good, 78-76 with 1:48 remaining.

Alterique Gilbert added 14 points with four assists for Wichita State. Dexter Dennis added 10 points including a free throw with eight seconds remaining to seal the win.

Devontae Shuler led Ole Miss (5-3) with 20 points and KJ Buffen added a season-high 18. Shuler made a career-best six 3-pointers. Romello White, who was 4-for-5 shooting in the first half, scored three points in the second, taking just one shot.

The loss ended the Rebels streak of six straight home wins dating to last season. Ole Miss returns to Southeastern Conference play Wednesday, hosting Auburn.

UTEP 77, Southern Miss 62
Jamal Bieniemy had 20 points and Souley Boum scored 17 as UTEP (5-3, 1-1 Conference USA) topped Southern Miss in the second game of a two-game weekend series in Hattiesburg. Southern Miss won the first game in overtime on Friday.

Tydus Verhoeven added 11 points and Bryson Williams had 10 for the Miners, who led by one point at halftime but blew the game open in the second half.

UTEP started the second half with an 8-0 run, and outscored Southern Miss 26-15 in the first 10 minutes. A 3-pointer by Boum with 8:40 left in the game gave the Miners their biggest lead, at 64-44.

Jaron Pierre Jr. had 15 points for the Golden Eagles (5-4, 1-1), whose four-game winning streak was snapped. Tyler Stevenson added 10 points. DeAndre Pinckney had eight rebounds.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff 92, Mississippi Valley State 52
Shaun Doss had 23 points and 13 rebounds as Arkansas-Pine Bluff pounded Mississippi Valley State in the Southwestern Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

Dequan Morris had 18 points for Arkansas-Pine Bluff (2-8, 1-0 SWAC). Markedric Bell added 14 points and five assists. Terrance Banyard had 10 points.

The 92 points were a season best for Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which also had a season-high 22 assists. The Delta Devils’ 29.5 field goal percentage represented the worst mark by an Arkansas-Pine Bluff opponent this season.

Devin Gordon had 14 points for the Delta Devils (0-9, 0-1). Quoiren Walden added 12 points. Terry Collins had seven rebounds.

Alabama-Huntsville 73, Mississippi College 72
Max Shulman made two free throws with 8 seconds left to give Alabama-Huntsville (3-1, 3-0 Gulf South Conference) a victory over Mississippi College (0-1, 0-1) on Saturday.

Mississippi College went on a 17-4 run to wipe out a 10-point deficit late in the second half, but couldn’t close it out. Alabama-Huntsville outscored the Choctaws 6-2 in the final 1:20, with four of the points coming at the foul line.

Shulman finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds for Alabama-Huntsville, while Seth Swalve scored 17 points and Sam Orf had 15.

Marko Jovanovic and Brandon Boston led Mississippi College with 20 points apiece, and Dyllan Taylor scored 15.