Ole Miss beats LSU in first game with Case as coach
Published 11:19 pm Saturday, February 25, 2023
- Ole Miss basketball players douse acting head coach Win Case with water after the Rebels defeated LSU 82-69 on Saturday. It was Case's first game as head coach after Kermit Davis was fired on Friday. (Kiana Dale/Ole Miss Athletics
OXFORD (AP) — Ole Miss won with Win.
Jaemyn Brakefield had a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds, and Ole Miss won its first game with acting head coach Win Case by beating LSU 82-69 on Saturday night.
Case took over the program on Friday when Ole Miss fired Kermit Davis, who was nearing the end of his fifth season at the helm in Oxford.
“Character matters, and our team has a lot of character,” Case said. “That is the reason why this team never gave up. Through all the heartaches, injuries, and more, they stayed together and continued to fight.”
Brakefield was 8-of-10 from the field and 7-of-7 from the free throw line. Amaree Abram came off the bench to add 14 points with four 3-pointers for Ole Miss (11-18, 3-13 Southeastern Conference).
The Rebels shot 55 percent (32-of-58) from the field and ended a four-game losing streak. Myles Burns had 12 points and Matthew Murrell scored 11.
“We’re happy to get the win and play for each other,” Burns said. “The locker room felt very unselfish (after the game), and it felt good.”
Ole Miss built a nine-point halftime lead and had a 72-59 advantage with 4:06 to play. Adam Miller made a 3-pointer and Tyrell Ward converted a three-point play to pull the Tigers to 72-65, but they didn’t get closer.
KJ Williams scored 29 points on 10-of-18 shooting to lead LSU (13-16, 2-14). Miller finished with 15 points and Ward scored nine.
Ole Miss took the lead for good with about five minutes left in the first half and led 35-26 at the break. Brakefield scored 10 points and Abram had two of the Rebels’ five 3-pointers in the half.
“The thing that we wanted to do tonight was put two halves together,” Case said. “With four minutes left, all the guys kept saying was ‘let’s go get this win’ and they did all the talking in the timeouts. So, my hats off to our players and I’m just excited for them.”
Ole Miss hosts No. 25 Texas A&M on Tuesday. LSU hosts Missouri on Wednesday.