OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Sean Padilla scored 19 of his 27 points in the first half and No. 24 Mississippi went on a 9-0 run in the final two minutes to beat South Alabama 64-54 on Tuesday night.

For Ole Miss, Jaemyn Brakefield scored 14 points (3-0) and Malik Dia broke the game high with 13 rebounds. Rebels closed the first half ahead 38-26.

Judah Brown led South Alabama (1-2) with 16 points, while Myles Corey added 14 points.

The Jaguars brought the score to 55-52 in the last four minutes, but consecutive three-pointers by Jaylen Murray, Brakefield and Pedulla broke the game.

The Rebels played without three-year starter Matthew Murrell at shooting guard due to back issues.

takeaway

South Alabama: Richie Riley’s Jaguars have hit .500 or better for six consecutive seasons, but the challenge to snap that streak will be the blending of eight transfers before Sun Belt Conference play.

Ole Miss: The game was billed as “Throwback at the Tad ((Smith) Pad.” The old home field on campus was a cozy, noisy, 7,500-seat, round-shaped arena. Chris Beard’s team reminded fans why the Rebels own this place .a very strong home advantage in a nostalgic but outdated facility.

key moment

Ole Miss went on a 14-2 run in the last five minutes of the first half to take a 24-24 lead to take a 38-26 lead at halftime. Padilla started the surge with back-to-back 3-pointers and the Rebels never trailed again.

Key statistics

The Rebels finished the game with a score of 13/38, shooting 7/16 and 34% from behind the 3-point line, under Pedulla’s leadership. Long-range shooting proved decisive, as Ole Miss was able to shoot just 21-of-64, or 32 percent, from the field.

next

South Alabama will host Mercer on Saturday afternoon. Ole Miss moves to the state’s neutral site of Southaven on Saturday afternoon to take on Colorado State.

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