The Memphis Tigers fell 80-77 on the road to the Ole Miss Rebels.
David Jones led the Tigers with 22 points and Jaylen Murray led Ole Miss with 22. Memphis native Matthew Murrell finished with 20 points for the Rebels.
The loss drops Memphis to 5-2 on the season. Ole Miss stays undefeated at 7-0.
First Half
Ole Miss got off to a strong start with a 7-0 lead after two minutes and two quick fouls from Jordan Brown. However, Memphis found its groove and did not shy away early.
After seven minutes, the Tigers fired back with a 19-2 run to take a 19-9 lead.
Malcolm Dandridge and David Jones were key catalysts in the first half as Dandridge played excellent defense while Jones provided great shot-making to keep the lead.
The first half was defined by the storyline of former Memphis Tiger and current Ole Miss Rebel Moussa Cisse being cleared by the NCAA and facing his former team.
Malcolm Dandridge would welcome his former teammate back with a ferocious poster dunk over him.
Both teams kept things close in the first half but Memphis held its ground and walked into halftime with a 37-30 lead.
David Jones led Memphis with 16 points and Malcolm Dandridge with 7 points and 3 blocks.
The key takeaways from the first half are Memphis outrebounded Ole Miss very well, which has been their biggest concern all season. However, Ole Miss made six threes in the first half which helped them stay in the game.
Both teams had some issues with turnovers that led to each team scoring easy fast break points.
Second Half
Memphis jumped out to another double-digit lead to open the second half, holding the lead for the majority part until Ole Miss took the lead at the 13-minute mark.
Both teams traded leads as Ole Miss' Jaylen Murray and Matthew Murrell carried the load for the Rebels in the comeback effort.
With the game tied at 75, Jaylen Murray hit a clutch jumper over Malcolm Dandridge for the lead. However, Dandridge retaliated with a layup to even it at 77.
Murray made another clutch layup to give the Rebels a 79-77 lead with 17 seconds as Jahvon Quinerly missed a layup to tie the game.
After a 1-for-2 effort by Ole Miss at the free-throw line, Jahvon Quinerly missed a game-tying three with 6.6 seconds remaining as Ole Miss ran the clock out.
Takeaways
The rotations by Penny Hardaway, when Memphis had the lead, were very questionable. Subbing out Malcolm Dandridge and David Jones for Jahylon Young and Jordan Brown, two guys who were struggling, killed the momentum Memphis had.
Jordan Brown was outmatched from the jump as he picked up two quick fouls and never found his groove in the game.
Malcolm Dandridge is the energy piece for Memphis as he made the hustle plays and kept them afloat with momentum plays.
Jahvon Quinerly had a very rough night. The entire team had a rough night from the field, especially the perimeter.
David Jones is the main scorer on the team. 16 first-half points kept Memphis in the lead for the majority of the game, which is why it was surprising that Jones did not have a shot attempt in the final six minutes.
What's Next
Memphis will stay on the road and travel to Richmond to face VCU on Wednesday, December 6. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
