Leading scorer Jaden Shackelford poured in a career-high 30 points — draining eight of his team’s 14 3-pointers — as Alabama’s offense awakened to snap a two-game losing streak on Wednesday night, throttling Ole Miss 97-83 in Oxford, Miss.
The Crimson Tide (15-9, 5-6 Southeastern Conference), who led by 11 at halftime, withstood a 9-0 run by the Rebels (12-12, 3-8) in the first 1:45 of the second half as the contest tightened to 49-47.
However, Alabama raced away on a 13-3 run inside the half’s first seven minutes to regain control and cruise to its fifth straight win over Ole Miss.
After scoring a season-low 55 points and missing 27 of 30 treys in Saturday’s home loss against Kentucky, the Crimson Tide finally found their touch.
In earning their first road win since Jan. 5, they sizzled on 36 of 60 shots (60 percent) and 14 of 22 (63.6 percent) from long range.
Entering the game fourth in the SEC in scoring (17.1 per game), Shackelford was 8 of 13 from distance and grabbed five rebounds.
JD Davison managed 18 points and eight assists, and Keon Ellis and Noah Gurley scored 13 and 10, respectively, for Alabama, which produced assists on 23 of its 36 baskets.
Jarkel Joiner scored a career-high 33 points, Matthew Murrell added 15 and Nysier Brooks had 10 points and seven rebounds for Ole Miss, which lost its second straight and dropped to 10-5 at home.
In the opening half, Shackelford and Joiner stole the show when they had the ball.
Joiner notched 14 points in the first nine minutes, including a trio of 3-pointers, as the Rebels led 21-15.
But a 3-point play by Shackelford ended a 9-0 run to put Alabama up 36-34 with 5:18 left.
The Crimson Tide closed the half on a 22-4 streak to lead by their largest margin – 49-38.
Shackelford netted 19 points as his club shot 54.8 percent (17 of 31) and made 8 of 12 treys (66.7 percent).
Joiner had 14 as the Rebels — who led by 11 points at one point in the half — were 7 of 13 (53.8 percent) from deep.
–Field Level Media
