Ole Miss coasted past overmatched University of New Orleans (UNO) for an 82-61 season-opening win Tuesday night in Oxford, Miss.
Austin Crowley led the Rebels (1-0) with 13 points and three steals, Jarkel Joiner chipped in 12 points and the Rebels shot 53 percent from the field, including 9-of-22 from three (41 percent), to eventually separate and build a 43-31 lead by half.
The Rebels continued to pour it on in the second half, going up 65-43 with 11:53 to play on a layup on a runout steal by Daeshun Ruffin, the Rebels’ highly regarded freshman point guard.
Nysier Brooks caught a lob to the rim and dunked it home with 7:35 left gave the Rebels a 72-47 lead, their biggest lead of the game.
The Rebels controlled the paint, outscoring the Privateers 40-30 and put up 23 assists compared to just 12 turnovers.
Meanwhile, the Privateers (0-1) lost 19 turnovers and notched just 13 assists. The Rebels outscored them 17-6 in points off turnovers.
Five Ole Miss players finished in double figures, with Brooks (11), Jaemyn Brakefield (10) and Tye Fagan (10) joining Crowley and Joiner.
In the first half, UNO went on an 11-0 run to go up 17-11 on a layup by Tyson Jackson at the 11-minute mark. Derek St. Helaire, who finished with 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting for the game, helped spur the run with a pair of three-pointers.
The Rebels answered with a 6-0 run, capped by a tomahawk jam by Matthew Murrell.
A three-pointer by Crowley, who went 3-for-3 from the perimeter in the first half, gave the lead back to the Rebels 20-19 at the 8:22 mark.
–Field Level Media
