Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles vs Mississippi Rebels Match Player Stats On Dec 29, 2019

Devontae Shuler and KJ Buffen had 20 points apiece as Mississippi pulled away in the second half to beat visiting Tennessee Tech 80-63 on Sunday afternoon in Oxford, Miss.

It was the fourth straight win for the Rebels (9-3), who improved to 10-1 in December games under second-year coach Kermit Davis. The lone loss was at home to then-unbeaten Baylor on Dec. 3.

Shuler, a junior guard, was 8 of 12 from the field and added five rebounds and five assists. Buffen, a sophomore forward, made 6 of 12 shots and 7 of 8 free throw attempts to go with eight rebounds.

That duo helped offset a down afternoon for senior guard Breein Tyree, Ole Miss' leading scorer who had nine points and made only 1 of 6 3-pointers.

Tennessee Tech, which hasn't beaten a power-conference team since winning at Oregon State in 2007, was led by senior guard Darius Allen and sophomore guard Jr. Clay, both of whom had 13 points.

Tennessee Tech (3-10) led 32-31 at halftime but went the final 2:53 of the first half without scoring, allowing Ole Miss to cut into a five-point edge. The Rebels got hot from the perimeter in the second half, making four of their first six attempts from behind the arc after going 1 for 12 in the first half.

The hot second-half shooting helped open the interior for the Rebels. A layup by Shuler with 12:28 to go gave Ole Miss a 52-41 lead, then a 13-0 run produced entirely from baskets within the paint upped the margin to 67-47 after a basket by senior forward Khadim Sy with 6:38 left.

Ole Miss made 23 of 32 two-pointers in shooting 54.5 percent overall, including 69.2 percent in the second half.

--Field Level Media