ORLANDO, Fla. – Ole Miss males’s basketball continued its second-half heroics, bouncing again from a halftime deficit behind an excellent taking pictures effort within the again half to take down Siena, 74-62, within the ESPN Events Invitational semifinal on Friday morning.
With the victory, Ole Miss improves to 6-0 for the primary time since 2013-14 and advances to Sunday’s title recreation in opposition to tonight’s winner between Oklahoma and Seton Hall.
The Rebels trailed the Saints (3-3) by one at halftime after a fierce first half from Siena that featured 10 lead modifications and two ties. However, Ole Miss regained the lead on its first bucket of the half and by no means relinquished it again, driving a season-high 62.5 p.c taking pictures effort within the second half on the backs of giant days from Jaemyn Brakefield, Amaree Abram and Matthew Murrell. This season, Ole Miss is outscoring opponents within the second half by 51 factors, helped right this moment by a 48-35 edge.
On the day, Ole Miss shot 50 p.c total, the primary time the Rebels have hit half of their pictures in back-to-back video games for the reason that starting of final season in opposition to New Orleans (.531) and Charleston Southern (.507).
“I knew we would get a great shot from Siena,” mentioned Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis. “They’re very well-coached, they’re playing really well right now and they came out with a lot of energy. I’m really proud of our team. We knew it was going to be that kind of game. You can see all the scores in college basketball, there’s a lot of close scores no matter what the teams are. I thought our team really played well in the second half.”
Abram (19 factors), Brakefield (17 factors) and Murrell (14 factors) mixed for 50 of Ole Miss’ 74 factors on the day, however had been significantly efficient within the second half, scoring a mixed 37 of Ole Miss’ 48 again half factors.
Brakefield received the group energized with a thunderous coast-to-coast dunk with 13:55 to go within the recreation to push the Ole Miss lead into double-digits for the primary time. The Jackson, Mississippi junior scored 17 factors for the second straight recreation in Orlando, and total for the match he’s taking pictures a complete clip of 14-of-20 and 3-of-6 from past the arc. This season, Brakefield leads the Rebels with a 64.6 p.c mark from the sector.
“(Brakefield) cares so much. I’m so excited for Jaemyn,” Davis mentioned. “You can’t imagine how many hours he’s put in this gym since last year. His conditioning is elite. I don’t think I took him out in the second half. He can play all day.”
Abram was glorious for the second straight day as effectively after blowing up for a profession and Ole Miss workforce season-high 26 factors in opposition to Stanford on Thursday. Abram ended right this moment’s recreation in opposition to Siena with 19 factors and an ideal 3-of-3 line from three-point land – with 16 of these factors coming within the second half.
Senior Myles Burns was essential for the Rebels, each in ways in which do and don’t present up within the stat sheet. Burns put collectively one other recreation as Ole Miss’ do-it-all utility man with six factors, six rebounds, 5 steals and three assists – his second recreation this season with 5 steals. Burns made arguably the spotlight of the day after a turnover of his personal, chasing down the ball your entire size of the court docket and leaping in full-extension to knock the ball out of bounds and stop the fastbreak bucket.
“That’s just who (Burns) is,” Davis mentioned. “That’s why he plays the minutes he plays. He can affect the game in so many areas. He’s used to winning. He was 36-0 last year as a player (at Loyola New Orleans), and he’s undefeated this year. He impacts winning in a lot of ways that coaches love.”
Up subsequent, Ole Miss will face the winner of tonight’s Oklahoma-Seton Hall semifinal in Sunday’s title recreation of the 2022 ESPN Events Invitational. Tipoff on Sunday is about for 12:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.
For the most recent news and updates concerning Ole Miss Men’s Basketball, observe the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissMBB, on Facebook at Ole Miss Men’s Basketball and on Instagram at olemissmbb.
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