Daeshun Ruffin ignited Ole Miss’ offense with 17 points and seven rebounds as the Rebels defeated Kansas State 67-56 on Saturday afternoon in the Big 12/SEC Challenge at Oxford, Miss.
The meeting between the Rebels (11-10) of the Southeastern Conference and Wildcats (10-10) of the Big 12 was part of the ninth annual challenge between the conferences, involving all 10 of the Big 12’s schools and 10 of the SEC’s 14 members.
Playing its fourth game in a stretch of eight days, Ole Miss led by six at halftime behind a strong defensive performance and built the advantage to 13 in the second half.
The slick ball-handling by the diminutive Ruffin was crucial as he repeatedly drove the lane and kept the home side out front almost the entire game in the series it had been winless in previously.
Ole Miss was victorious for the first time in seven games overall in the Big 12/SEC Challenge and scored its first win in three tries against the Wildcats in the event.
Luis Rodriguez scored 10 points. Nysier Brooks had six points and a team-high nine rebounds as the Rebels won for just the second time in their past seven outings and moved to 10-4 at home.
They held a 32-14 edge in points in the paint.
After splitting its last four games — all against ranked competition — the Wildcats got a strong performance from Mark Smith, who produced 20 points and 16 boards. Nijel Pack notched 18 points and was 6 of 13 from long range.
However, the Wildcats’ offense struggled against Ole Miss, making 19 of 63 shots (30.2 percent).
Ole Miss closed out its three-game homestand by starting hot from the field behind the shooting of Matthew Murrell. He popped in seven points as the home side led 16-11 just over eight minutes into the match.
Pack kept the Wildcats close with nine points and made half of his six shots from distance, and Luke Kasubke’s four-point play with four seconds remaining broke a string of eight straight missed shots as the Rebels led 30-24 at the break.
–Field Level Media
