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OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi set two goals prior to Southeastern Conference play and accomplished both of them Tuesday night in a 99-80 win over Louisiana Tech.
"We're trying to get some help for Stefan Moody and we're trying to get better as a team," Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. "I thought we did both of those things tonight."
Moody scored 29 points and made four assists, and three of his teammates also scored in double figures. The win was the fifth straight for the Rebels, who improved to 8-2.
Rasheed Brooks added 20 points, hitting 8 of 10 from the field, including four 3-pointers. Marcanvis Hymon and Tomasz Gielo added 14 and 13 points, respectively, and the Rebels led 52-40 at halftime.
"I had a little slump and I was kind of down on myself, but I went back to the gym and put up a lot more shots," Brooks said. "Just started playing with confidence. AK (Kennedy) told me to trust it. Trust my shot. Trust the work."
Ole Miss shot 37 of 65 (57 percent) from the field, including 12 of 26 (46 percent) from 3-point range, and led by as many as 27 points.
Louisiana Tech (8-2) never got closer than 11 points in the second half.
"When you make shots, that makes everything else you do look good," Kennedy said. "It was nice to see players other than No. 42 (Moody) make shots."
Erik McCree led Louisiana Tech (8-2) with 20 points and seven rebounds. Alex Hamilton had 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Jacobi Boykins scored 13 and Derric Jean added 12.
Leading 28-27, Ole Miss used runs of 12-2 and 7-0 in the final eight minutes of the first half to build what became an insurmountable lead. The Rebels outscored Louisiana Tech 24-13 during that stretch, highlighted by 3-point shots from Anthony Perez, Gielo and Brooks.
The Bulldogs finished 27 of 62 (44 percent) from the field and 8 of 24 (33 percent) from 3-point range.
The Rebels out rebounded Louisiana Tech 36-31, led by Sebastian Saiz with 15.
"We've gotten better and that's reflected in the shooting tonight," Kennedy said. "It's simple. When you miss shots, you're tight on everything you do and when you make shots, you get quality wins and that's five in a row."
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TIP-INS
Andy Kennedy recorded his 200th win at Ole Miss. He also had 21 wins in a season as interim head coach at Cincinnati.....The 52-point first-half outburst and 99-point game were season-highs for the Rebels.... Louisiana Tech got productive performances from the Hamilton-Boykins-McCree-Jean quartet, but the remainder of the Bulldogs managed only 19 points.
STAR POWER
Moody, the point guard for the Rebels, scored 29 points to exceed his 23.3 points per game average. Moody ranks 10th nationally in scoring and has hit a 3-point shot in 24 consecutive games.
Hamilton, the point guard for the Bulldogs, finished with 16 points, seven assists, five rebounds and a steal. The performance closely reflected his season average of 15 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Only three other players — Ben Simmons of LSU, Kris Dunn of Providence and Gary Payton of Oregon State — can match those statistics.
UP NEXT
Ole Miss visits Memphis on Friday.
Louisiana Tech hosts Southern on
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