Cal Basketball: Mississippi Beats Bears

Rebels' hot shooting sends Cal to its seventh loss of the season

Mississippi began Saturday's game against Cal as one of four undefeated Division I teams, and the Rebels remained unbeaten with a .convincing 88-78 victory over Cal in San Antonio, Texas, as part of the Hall of Fame Series.

Cal has not defended the three-point shot well this season, and that weakness hurt the Bears again against Mississippi.  Cal began the day ranked 281st of 350 Division I teams in three-point percentage defense, and Mississippi probably dropped the Bears a few more notches.

The Rebels were 12-for-21 on three-pointers, and that doesn't tell the entire story. Seven minutes into the second half, Ole Miss was 11-for-17 from long range, helping the Rebels take a 24-point lead at 65-41 with 12:46 left in the game.  At that point Cal was just 3-for-16 from distance, preventing the Bears from staying in the game.

The Bears cut the margin to 14 points with 5:25 remaining and got within eight points with 59 seconds to go, but there was never a feeling that Cal had a chance to win the game.

For the game, Mississippi shot 52.5% from the field, while Cal hit 41.7 % of their field-goal attempts.

Jaemyn Brakefield had a season-high 27 points for Mississippi, while Jaylon Tyson had 22 points for Cal.

Cal (3-7) is 0-5 in games decided by three points or fewer or in overtime this season, but the Bears never got that close in this one.

The Rebels, who are coached by former Texas and Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard, improved to 10-0 and and took command early. Ole Miss is unranked in the AP poll and is 25th in the coaches poll, but figures to move up in both polls after Saturday's performance.

Cal got off to a slow start offensively, while the Rebels began the game on fire. Mississippi made 11 of its first 14 shots from the floor, and that included 6-for-7 shooting on three-pointers. Meanwhile, the Bears missed their first seven shots from beyond the three-point line. It added up to a 28-14 Ole Miss lead with 10:17 left in the first half.

"We got of to a slow start," Cal coach Mark Madsen said. "We didn't have enough resistance, we went zone, and they diced up our zone. You throw those first six minutes out we're right there."

Mississippi ended the half with a 46-35 lead after shooting 59.3% from the field over the first 20 minutes. 

Tyson had 11 first-half points for the Bears, and Grant Newell added 10. Brakefield had 13 first-half points for the Rebels.

NOTES: Cal’s Devin Askew missed his seventh straight game with an injury, although he is expected back soon. Cal was also without ND Okafor, who sustained an ankle injury in the loss to Butler. As result freshman Devin Curtis got his first playing time of the season.

Cover photo of Jalen Cone is Daniel Dunn, USA TODAY Sports

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