Rebels Suffer Home Loss vs. No. 14 Alabama, Drop Third Straight Game

The Ole Miss Rebels lost to the No. 14 Alabama Crimson Tide at home on Wednesday night despite a promising first half of basketball.

OXFORD, Miss. -- The Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball team closed out the month of February on a sour note, losing 103-88 to the No. 14 Alabama Crimson Tide on Wednesday night in the Sandy and John Black Pavilion.

Ole Miss started the first half with its foot on the gas pedal, as the Rebels cruised to a 15-point lead at the nine-minute mark, but Alabama did not go into halftime quietly. The Rebels entered the locker room with a 42-39 lead over Alabama, as they allowed 5 unanswered points in the final minute of the half. Senior guard Allen Flanigan led Ole Miss in scoring with 12 points in the first 20 minutes.

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Alabama kept its new-found momentum rolling into the second half, and quickly took the advantage away from Ole Miss. The Rebels stayed in the fight, however, thanks to a productive second half from forward Jaemyn Brakefield, who finished the game with 21 points after scoring six in the first 20 minutes.

Unfortunately, Alabama took a 87-77 lead with four and a half minutes left in the game and Ole Miss failed to manufacture scoring runs down the stretch.

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Ole Miss was led in scoring by Flanigan with 28 points (a season-high), and he was joined in double digits by Brakefield (21) and Matthew Murrell (12). As a team, Ole Miss shot 52 percent from the field and 36 from three compared to percentages of 50 and 41 from the Crimson Tide, respectively. One the bright side, the Rebels' bench posited improvement, as they outscored Alabama's reserves 36-27 on Wednesday night.

Fortunately, a woeful February is behind the Rebels, and they now must prepare for their first battle in March versus the Missouri Tigers on Saturday. Missouri is currently ranked dead last in the Southeastern Conference with an abysmal 0-15 record versus league opponents. The Rebels will hit the road to take on the Tigers at 7:30 p.m. CT in Mizzou Arena and the game will be televised on SEC Network.