Ole Miss shoots past Gamecocks, 71-53

Posted 7:37AM on Sunday 27th January 2002 ( 23 years ago )

OXFORD, MISSISSIPPI - Put together a defense that causes turnovers and an offense that rains down 3s and South Carolina coach Dave Odom has one word for Mississippi's play - hot. Ole Miss hit a season-high 11 3-pointers and had four players in double figures in a 71-53 victory over South Carolina on Saturday. ``Their shooting just rendered our zone ineffective,'' Odom said. ``We ran into a hot team.'' Ole Miss (16-4, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) has won three straight and five of its last six. The Rebels are 4-0 at home in league play. The Gamecocks (12-7, 2-4) are winless in their last six trips to Oxford. South Carolina came down hard from a season-best 94 points in a win over Tennessee Wednesday with a sloppy game Saturday. The Gamecocks had a season-high 19 turnovers and shot just 35 percent from the floor. Ole Miss coach Rod Barnes said he feels like his team is picking up the defensive intensity. ``I thought that the winner of this game would establish themselves as the best defensive team in the SEC - so this was important,'' he said. Justin Reed had 16 to lead the Rebels. Aaron Harper had 15, including four 3-pointers. Jason Harrison scored 12 - all 3s. Derrick Allen added 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. ``I knew we were patient on offense, but I didn't know we had hit 11 3-pointers,'' said David Sanders, who scored nine points and hit one from behind the arc. ``But when we work the ball against defenses like we did today, you're going to get open shots and we knocked down more than I thought.'' Jamel Bradley led South Carolina with 12 points. Marius Petravicius added 10. Ole Miss built a 27-10 first-half lead with 5:18 left, but South Carolina pulled within 34-23 at the half after Petravicius came off the bench to score eight consecutive points. South Carolina twice closed the gap to nine in the second half but couldn't get any closer.

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