No. 25 Ole Miss leans on strong first half to top No. 14 Kentucky

Matthew Murrell scored a season-high 24 points and No. 25 Ole Miss made nine 3-pointers as part of an explosive 54-point first half on the way to a 98-84 win over No. 14 Kentucky on Tuesday in Oxford, Miss.

In the first 20 minutes, the defensive-minded Rebels (17-6, 6-4 Southeastern Conference) were on fire, clicking on 20 of 33 shots (60.6 percent) from the field and going 9-for-17 (52.9 percent) from long range. They also dished out 15 assists in the first half.

Dre Davis added 17 points for Ole Miss, while Malik Dia had 16. Jaylen Murray had 15 points and 10 assists, and Jaemyn Brakefield scored 10 points.

Ole Miss had 24 assists and just one turnover for the game.

Otega Oweh scored 24 points and Jaxson Robinson had 18 as Kentucky (15-7, 4-5) lost for the fourth time in five outings. Amari Williams amassed 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, the fourth triple-double in Wildcats history and the first since December 2016. Koby Brea and Andrew Carr each scored 10 points.

The Wildcats were without starting guard Lamont Butler (shoulder) for the third straight game.

Not even four minutes into the contest, the Rebels found themselves up 12-4, getting 3-pointers from Davis and Dia in front of a raucous, red-clad crowd.

The home side pushed the advantage to 27-17 near the 10-minute mark of the first half on Murrell's trey. It extended its edge to 33-18 shortly after Brakefield's three-point play with 8:43 to go in the period.

Murray's layup in the closing seconds of the first half put the Rebels ahead 54-31 at the break -- their largest lead up until that point.

In the second half, Ole Miss continued to put on the heat on the offensive end and took a 27-point lead, 64-37, just 2:18 into the frame on Murrell's dunk.

The visitors cut their deficit to 78-63 on a four-point play by Robinson and eventually got it down to 11 with 7:43 left but didn't have enough mojo for a comeback.

--Field Level Media