Ole Miss dominates Austin Peay

By

Posted 6:36AM on Thursday, December 5, 2002

OXFORD, MISSISSIPPI - Mississippi is showing steady improvement. Aaron Harper scored 17 points and Justin Reed added 13 as Mississippi defeated Austin Peay 74-46 on Wednesday night, the Rebels most decisive victory of the young season. Harper, who leads the team in scoring, was 4-for-8 from 3-point range. David Sanders and Derrick Allen each had 10 points for the Rebels (3-1), who have won three straight since an opening road loss at East Carolina. ``We've made a lot of progress,'' said Reed, who was 6-for-13 from the field with five rebounds and three assists. ``It's just a matter of us jelling, everyone getting a chance to know each other and knowing their spots on the floor.'' Corey Gipson led Austin Peay (2-2) with 12 points, four below his average. The Governors made just 27 percent of their shots and were outrebounded 46-33. ``Our kids pretty much executed what we wanted to do, especially on the defensive end,'' Ole Miss coach Rod Barnes said. ``Offensively, we've got to still do a better job.'' Ole Miss shot 44 percent, including 41 percent in the first half. ``We got some great looks, and just didn't knock some shots down,'' Barnes said. Austin Peay got within 13 points early in the second half, but never pulled any closer. Sanders drove by Maurice Hampton, hit an off-balanced shot and was fouled with 15:52 left. He converted the three-point play to make it 43-25. Sanders' follow slam off Harper's miss with about 10 minutes left made it 52-34 and began a spurt that put the game away for good. Moments later, Emmanuel Wade sank a 3-pointer from 22 feet and Austin Peay called a timeout. It didn't help stop the Rebels' run as Harper sank a 3 from the same spot as Wade to make it 58-34 after the timeout. Austin Peay was 7-for-30 from the floor in the second half. The lead reached 30 with about six minutes left when John Gunn made a layup to make it 66-36. Ole Miss took control of the game at the end of the first half by outscoring the Governors 22-10 in the final eight minutes. Gunn's hook shot with less than two minutes in the first gave the Rebels a 36-18 lead.