Dogs storm back late but can't overcome Ole Miss

ATHENS -- Terrance Henry can't really say why Ole Miss struggles so badly at the free-throw line.

As long as the Rebels win, however, Henry believes his team will be just fine.

"We're used to it," Henry said. "That's our M.O. We grind it out on defense, take what we can get on offense. It wasn't new to us, so we were used to a game like that."

Henry scored 24 points, Nick Williams and Murphy Holloway added 12 and Mississippi held off a late surge from Georgia for a 66-63 victory on Saturday.

The Rebels (13-6, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) have won two straight and three of four.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope finished with 25 points and Gerald Robinson had 19 for Georgia (10-9, 1-4).

"No one is happy," Robinson said. "Almost doesn't count in basketball. We just lost. We didn't put ourselves in position to win the game. We didn't finish like we should have."

Ole Miss' Jarvis Summers made one of two free throws to give the Rebels a 10-point lead with 47 seconds remaining, but Henry and Summers showed why their school ranks last in SEC's free-throwing shooting, combining to miss their next four foul shots as Georgia twice cut the lead to two points in the final 23 seconds.

"It's certainly not the way we would have drawn up finishing the game," Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said, "but the bottom line is they got it done."

With 9 seconds left, Henry hit one free throw but missed the second attempt. Dustin Ware grabbed the rebound for Georgia and made a long pass to Robinson in the right corner, but Robinson's 3-point attempt bounced off the rim.

Nemanja Djurisic picked up the loose ball on the left side, but he launched a 3-point attempt that bounced off the rim and was pulled down by Henry at the buzzer.

A few more good free throws would have given the Rebels a more comfortable margin, but they went 20 of 35 from the foul line. Summers and Reginald Buckner combined to go 4 of 15.

"Guys that just have to step up and make them," Williams said. "We made some at the end to push it to three. That was big for us. Terrance made that last one, so they had to take a 3."

Buckner, the SEC's leading rebounder, finished with six points and 10 boards.

Georgia, which never led after Robinson's jumper made it 8-7 early in the first half, continued to struggle offensively.

The Bulldogs began the game ranked last in SEC scoring (61.9 points) and managed to lower the league's worst field-goal percentage to 39.9 percent after hitting just 23 of 63 attempts.

Ole Miss' zone defense caused Georgia fits throughout the game. The Bulldogs spent many possessions passing the ball around the perimeter, winding down the shot clock and then firing up a low-percentage shot.

Defensively, the Bulldogs gave the Rebels too many open looks by not disrupting their passing lanes.

"It's very disappointing the way that we played for most of the game today," Georgia coach Mark Fox said. "We scratched and clawed our way back, but you have to play every minute of every game to win in this league. We couldn't do that and we didn't deserve to win the game."

Ware went 0 for 7 beyond the arc and is now 6 for his last 31.

Demarco Cox's layup with 14:24 remaining gave Ole Miss its biggest lead at 14. The Rebels improved to 12-2 when leading at halftime.

Henry, who scored 15 points in the first half, looked as if he had put the game out of reach with a jumper that made it 62-50 with 1:11 remaining. Williams was disappointed that Ole Miss allowed the Bulldogs to work their way back in the final minute.

"We were back on our heels, and I guess you could say we were playing not to lose because we were up so much," Williams said. "They got some momentum and hit some shots. It happens in college basketball. People make shots. People make runs, but like I said, we ended strong.

Georgia hosts No. 2 Kentucky on Tuesday. Ole Miss' next game is Thursday at home against No. 17 Florida.