Ole Miss Basketball Falls to Missouri, Ends Season in First Round of SEC Tourney

A sour season ended on a sour note for the Rebels on Wednesday night.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Ole Miss basketball fell to Missouri 72-60 in the first round of the SEC Tournament on Wednesday, ending its season in lackluster fashion.

The Rebels entered the tournament as the No. 13 seed in the SEC, and although the game was tight throughout the first half, Missouri pulled away after the intermission to secure the win.

This marked the third time this season that Ole Miss fell to the Tigers on the hardwood.

"I give Missouri a lot of credit," Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis said. "They played well all three times against us."

Ole Miss was led in scoring by Matthew Murrell with 16 points and Jarkel Joiner with 13. No other Rebel cracked double digits on the night.

The Rebels finish the 2022 season looking for answers after not having reached the NCAA Tournament since Kermit Davis' first season in Oxford. An injury-plagued campaign ends with a 13-19 overall record and a 4-14 mark in conference play.

"You know, I think this is 38 or 39 years in college basketball, and it's probably the most uniquely challenged with some of the guys that we've lost," Davis said. "We lost the highest rated player that's ever played here, Daeshun Ruffin. He was just finding his way and tore his ACL. 

"We lost our toughest defender, Robert Allen, at the Memphis game. We beat Memphis, and obviously Jarkel, he is still not 100%. He had a back procedure. Every loss is just excruciating to us and our players because we envisioned ourselves to be an NCAA Tournament team. I know we sure did not look like one tonight."

Although the 2021-22 season did not go the way Davis and the Rebels envisioned, he believes a foundation for success is in place in Oxford for the near future.

"I know one thing, with Daeshun Ruffin coming back and these two guys right here [Murrell and Joiner], and we have four guys in our high school class, we've got a great, great foundation. And we can't miss in the portal. We can't miss. We've got to go and find guys that are physical, that like to compete, that can do it in this league."

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