Ole Miss Basketball Pulls Away Late, Wins SEC Opener Over Georgia

The Ole Miss Rebels opened conference play with a win on Saturday.

Jan 4, 2025; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Georgia Bulldogs forward RJ Godfrey (10) drives to the basket as Mississippi Rebels guard Dre Davis (14) and Mississippi Rebels forward Malik Dia (0) defends during the first half at The Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The No. 24 Ole Miss Rebels bounced back from last weekend's loss at Memphis and claimed a 63-51 win over the Georgia Bulldogs in Saturday's SEC opener at the SJB Pavilion in Oxford.

Ole Miss (12-2, 1-0 SEC) opened up an early lead over the Bulldogs, but it eventually went cold from the floor late in the first half and trailed Georgia 28-26 at halftime. The second half was a frame of runs as the Rebels claimed a 44-32 lead at the under-12 timeout and saw that lead shrink to 45-41 at the under-eight.

Late in the game, however, Ole Miss was able to pull away and claim a win to open conference play in the 2024-25 season. The Rebels were led in scoring by guard Matthew Murrell and forward Jaemyn Brakefield with 15 points apiece, and they were the only two Ole Miss players to hit double digits in scoring.

As a team, Ole Miss shot 41 percent from the floor and 38 percent from three compared to percentages of 29 and 11 from Georgia, respectively. The Bulldogs were able to force some uncharacteristic turnovers from Ole Miss on Saturday as the Rebels had 13 in that category compared to Georgia's 15.

This game marks Georgia's second loss of the season, the first of which came to Marquette in November.

The Rebels will now look to carry their conference momentum into a road trip on Wednesday when they travel to Fayetteville to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. CT on ESPN 2.