Ole Miss pulls away in second half to beat Ragin’ Cajuns, 94-76

OXFORD, Miss. – Terence Davis scored 12 of his game-high 21 points in the second half and Ole Miss used a 14-3 run midway through the second half to pull away and claim a 94-76 win over the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns in the men’s basketball opener for both teams on Friday at The Pavilion at Ole Miss.

Deandre Burnett scored 17 points while Marcanvis Hymon posted a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds as Ole Miss (1-0) outscored Louisiana (0-1), 54-34, in the second half.

Louisiana led 54-53 when Bryce Washington hit a free throw with 13:47 remaining before Ole Miss took the lead for good on a 3-pointer by Devontae Shuler at the 13:35 mark. The Ragin’ Cajuns twice cut the lead to one – the last coming on Johnatan Stove’s bucket with 12:33 remaining, but the Rebels scored the next 12 points as Davis started the run with a three-point play and a layup before Shuler drained a 3-pointer from the right wing.

Ole Miss closed out the run as Deandre Burnett followed with a bucket and Bruce Stevens added a basket to cap that gave the Rebels a 70-57 lead with 10:22 remaining.

Freshman Cedric Russell, who scored 15 points with five 3-pointers in his Ragin’ Cajuns debut, sank a pair of treys that cut the Ole Miss lead to 72-66 with 7:44 left, but Davis sank a pair of free throws and Stevens hit a jumper as the Rebels pushed the lead back to double digits.

Stove scored 16 points to lead Louisiana with Justin Miller and Marcus Stroman scoring 12 points each for the Ragin’ Cajuns. Shuler scored 14 points for the Rebels in his debut with Breein Tyree adding 10.

Louisiana will return to action on Tuesday when it plays host to Louisiana College in a 7 p.m. contest at the Cajundome.