Mississippi Rebels vs Illinois St. Redbirds Match Player Stats On Dec 08, 2018

Ole Miss guard Breein Tyree had 17 of his game-high 22 points in the second half to lead the hot-shooting Rebels to an 81-74 nonconference win over Illinois State on Saturday night at Normal, Ill.

Ole Miss (6-2) shot 52.6 percent from the field, including 60.5 percent (23 of 38) from inside the 3-point line.

Tyree also had six assists and seven rebounds. Terence Davis had 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field. Bruce Stevens contributed 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting while Dominik Olejniczak had a career-high nine points with seven rebounds.

Illinois State (6-5) was led by Milik Yarbrough's 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Phil Fayne had a double-double (13 points and 11 rebounds).

Ole Miss got out to a nine-point lead with 5:25 left in the first half and led 41-36 at halftime. The Rebels, who did not trail after 11:04 remained in the first half, were led by Davis' 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting before the half.

The second half started with Ole Miss outscoring Illinois State 11-2, enabling the Rebels to build a 52-38 lead with 16:34 left in regulation. Symbolic of their balance, five different players scored in that pivotal run.

The Redbirds narrowed the gap to 57-51 with 12:26 remaining on a 3-pointer by Zach Copeland, who had 11 points, but they would not get closer than five points the rest of the way.

A jump shot by Isaac Gassman cut the Ole Miss lead to 75-69 with 32 seconds left. After Tyree made a dunk for the Rebels in transition, Yarbrough made a jumper to cut the lead to 77-71 with 19 seconds left.

Tyree made two free throws with 10 seconds left to put the game out of reach.

The win by Ole Miss avenges a 101-97 overtime loss to Illinois State last year at home. The victory is also the first for the Rebels against Redbirds after they lost the first four games in the series dating to 1978.

--Field Level Media