Balanced scoring leads Ole Miss past Cal State Bakersfield

AJ Storr scored 14 points and Ole Miss used a balanced scoring effort to roll past Cal State Bakersfield 82-60 on Friday night in Oxford, Miss.

Malik Dia and Ilias Kamardine added 10 points each for the Rebels (4-0), who had 11 players score.

Ole Miss, which turned the ball over just four times, had advantages in points off turnovers (17-4), points in the paint (38-28) and fastbreak points (14-8).

CJ Hardy scored 21 points, AJ George scored 11 and Dailin Smith and Ronald Jessamy tallied nine apiece to lead the Roadrunners (2-2), who made just 2 of 9 3-pointers while the Rebels made 5 of 19.

Dia made a layup to start the second-half scoring and give Ole Miss a 40-28 lead. The Rebels led by 12 again before Hardy made three free throws for the Roadrunners.

Ole Miss took a 13-point lead on five occasions and Cal State Bakersfield answered the first four times, but Travis Perry's 3-pointer and Patton Pinkins' free throw increased the Rebels' lead to 58-41 midway through the second half.

Smith made a free throw for the Roadrunners, but Perry made another 3-pointer and Pinkins added two more free throws to expand the lead to 21 points.

Hardy made a 3-pointer to start the Roadrunners' scoring and give them their first lead. He added a jumper moments later to give them their second and final lead.

Two James Scott free throws gave the Rebels the lead for good and started a 6-0 run that produced a 10-5 lead. Jessamy made two free throws to stop the run before Ole Miss opened a seven-point lead twice.

Caleb McCarty made a layup and Jessamy added a jumper to trim the lead to 18-15. Cal State Bakersfield closed within two points on a jumper by Smith before Kezza Giffa made a layup to complete a 9-2 run that gave the Rebels a 30-21 lead with 4:46 left.

Ole Miss expanded the lead to as many as 11 points before holding a 38-28 halftime lead.

--Field Level Media