Corbin Kaufusi #44 of the Brigham Young Cougars boxes out Sebastian Saiz #11 of the Mississippi Rebels during the first round of the 2015 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at UD Arena on March 17, 2015 in Dayton, Ohio. (Getty)
Final Score
Ole Miss 32-62–94
BYU 49-41–90
A year removed from not punching a ticket to the dance, Ole Miss showed strength in a tough conference, the SEC and earned a selection committee bid to the tournament.
The Rebels took on Brigham Young University in the First Four nightcap game on Tuesday, March 17 and showed what it meant to be the comeback kids. And although OddsShark projected that BYU would top Ole Miss, 84-78, well, that wasn’t the case.
After coming out of the half trailing by 17 points, Ole Miss chipped away point-by-point to make a comeback and top BYU in a barnburner that ended by a final score of 94-90.
Check out complete stats here and review key points of the game below.
It Was All Chase Fischer for BYU in the First Five Minutes of Play
Chase Fischer #1 of the Brigham Young Cougars takes a shot against the Mississippi Rebels during the first round of the 2015 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at UD Arena on March 17, 2015 in Dayton, Ohio. (Getty)
It’s been a back-and-forth battle between BYU and Ole Miss, but for BYU it’s been all Chase Fischer. He jumped out early and didn’t stop in keeping the Cougars atop the Rebels. In the first five minutes of play, Fischer was the only BYU player to score – he had all 11 points to open up the game.
BYU Has Sunk 8 Three-Pointers
Skyler Halford #23 of the Brigham Young Cougars goes to the basket as M.J. Rhett #4 of the Mississippi Rebels defends during the first round of the 2015 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at UD Arena on March 17, 2015 in Dayton, Ohio. (Getty)
Although it’s been a fast-paced game, BYU has found plenty of ways to score from behind the arc – eight ways to be exact. The Cougars are 8 of 13 or 61.5 percent from three-point land.
Senior guard Tyler Haws sunk two, while teammate Chase Fischer dropped four of his own en route to a dominating 9-point lead.
Tyler Haws Showed Why He’s BYU’s All-Time Career Leading Scorer
Tyler Haws #3 of the Brigham Young Cougars takes a shot against the Mississippi Rebels during the first round of the 2015 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at UD Arena on March 17, 2015 in Dayton, Ohio. (Getty)
Similar to Game 1 in Dayton, BYU jumped out to get the lead and never looked back. Although the Rebels threatened and came within 1 point following a Stefan Moody three-point shot with 9:48 remaining, the Haws-Fischer combo continued to gain traction and extend the Cougars lead. In fact, the Haws-Fischer duo combined to score more field goals than the entire Ole Miss team in the first half.
The Cougars heading into halftime atop the Rebels, 49-32.
BYU’s Kyle Collinsworth Got an Alley-Oop
He may have been pretty quite throughout the game – and he’s nowhere close to breaking the NCAA All-Time Career Triple-Double record in tonight’s game – but the injury-riddled and foul-troubled Kyle Collinsworth came up big for the Cougars with a massive alley-oop and the foul. He went on to sink the free throw.
The Rebels Threatened a Comeback in the Second Half
Jarvis Summers #32 of the Mississippi Rebels takes a shot over Corbin Kaufusi #44 of the Brigham Young Cougars during the first round of the 2015 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at UD Arena on March 17, 2015 in Dayton, Ohio. (Getty)
It was a new half, and the Rebels had a new spark of life to become the potential “comeback kids” in this contest. Ole Miss outscored the Cougars coming out of the half 12-4, but are still down. But as the half progresses, careless turnovers by BYU combined with a strong defensive front by Ole Miss created a comeback recipe to threaten a change in the outcome of this game.
The Rebels Took Their First Lead of the Game with 8 Minutes Remaining
Stefan Moody #42 of the Mississippi Rebels drives to the basket against Chase Fischer #1 of the Brigham Young Cougars during the first round of the 2015 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at UD Arena on March 17, 2015 in Dayton, Ohio. (Getty)
For the first time in the game, Ole Miss took the lead with just under eight minutes remaining in the contest. The Rebels continued to chip away at the Cougars’ dougle-digit lead and it finally paid off thanks in large part to M.J. Rhett’s four authoritative dunks and team-leading 18 points.
What’s even more impressive – breakdown the Rebels’ second-half performance and they scored 40 points and had six minutes of play still left to be had.
Ole Miss Shot 60 Percent in the Second Half
M.J. Rhett #4 celebrates with Stefan Moody #42 of the Mississippi Rebels against the Brigham Young Cougars during the first round of the 2015 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at UD Arena on March 17, 2015 in Dayton, Ohio. (Getty)
Talk about comeback kids. The Rebels were down 17 at that half, but didn’t let that stop them from chipping away to not only take the lead, but keep up the momentum and come away with a win. The difference in the second half?
Mainly Stefan Moody stepping up to sink some key shots from behind the arc and M.J. Rhett getting it done down low by owning the rim several times down the stretch.
Moody finished with a team-leading 26 points and five assists. Rhett ended with 20 points and three blocks. And in addition to the Moody-Rhett combo, four other Rebels scored in double-digits – Jarvis Summers (11 points), Sebastian Saiz (10), Martavious Newby (10) and Ladarius White (10).
Ole Miss shot 60 percent from the floor and scored 62 points in the second half alone – the most a team has scored in one half since 2007. And with the 90-94 win, the Rebels move on as the No. 11 seed in the West bracket and will face No. 6 Xavier on Thursday, March 19.
Preview Ole Miss vs. BYU
The NCAA tournament gets started Tuesday night, March 17. Following the first game of Manhattan vs. Hampton is Ole Miss vs. BYU. The Rebels and the Cougars will be fighting it out for a chance at the No. 11 seed in the West bracket. The winner will face No. 6 seed Xavier in the round of 64.
A year removed from not punching a ticket to the dance, Ole Miss showed strength in a tough conference, the SEC and earned a selection committee bid to the tournament. The Rebels finished 20-12 overall, third in the SEC with an 11-7 record, split a pair of games against Arkansas and took the nation’s top team, Kentucky, into overtime this year.
Ole Miss will meet up against Brigham Young University in the University of Dayton arena. The Cougars finished the season 25-9 overall and 13-5 in the West Coast Conference and runner-up in the WCC Tournament behind Gonzaga. And like the Rebels, the Cougars are dancing after receiving a selection committee bid and being chosen as one of the 68.
OddsShark is projecting that BYU tops Ole Miss, 84-78.
