National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Mississippi 78, Murray St. 73
When: 8:00 PM ET, Thursday, December 15, 2016
Where: The Pavilion at Ole Miss, Oxford, Mississippi
Officials: # Glenn Tuitt, # James Breeding, # Karl Hess
Attendance: 6650

Mississippi guard Deandre Burnett scored a team-high 24 points, including a 14-of-16 performance from the free-throw line, in the Rebels' 78-73 victory over visiting Murray State on Thursday night.

Also, leading the Rebels (7-3) were two players with double-doubles -- forward Sebastian Saiz (15 points and 14 rebounds) and guard Terence Davis (16 points and 10 rebounds).

Murray State, which fell to 5-6 overall, 0-5 on the road, shot 36.1 percent from the field and 22.6 percent from 3-point range. Mississippi shot only 35.5 percent from the field and 30.4 percent from 3-point range in the choppy game that had 55 fouls called.

The Racers relied heavily on reserve forward Terrell Miller Jr. He had a game-high 27 points on 6-of-14 shooting with 10 rebounds. Starting guard tandem Damarcus Croaker and Jonathan Stark scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, but they shot a combined 9 of 28 from the field, including 2 of 13 from 3-point range.

Mississippi seized momentum late in the first half scoring the last five points over the last two minutes to take a 43-31 lead. Davis scored 13 points and pulled down five rebounds in the first half for Mississippi. Miller countered with 12 points and five rebounds before halftime.

The Rebels opened the second half with a 9-2 run to take a 52-33 lead with 16:27 remaining in regulation. Burnett scored seven points in that 14-2 run for Mississippi between the first half and second half.

A late 14-3 run by Murray State, capped by a 3-point play by Miller, cut Mississippi's lead to 77-73 with 19 seconds left. Davis made one of two free throw attempts with 16 seconds remaining, and the Racers' Miller and guard Jerami Grace each missed from 3-point range on the ensuing possession in their last gasp to cut into the lead more.
Top Game Performances
 
Murray St.   Mississippi
Terrell Miller Jr. 27 Scoring Deandre Burnett 24
Damarcus Croaker 4 Assists Cullen Neal 6
Terrell Miller Jr. 10 Rebounds Sebastian Saiz 15
Terrell Miller Jr. 7 Free Throws Made Deandre Burnett 14
Damarcus Croaker 1 Steals Deandre Burnett 2
Damarcus Croaker 1 Blocks Justas Furmanavicius 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Murray St. 73 36.1 7-31 22-31 13 38 2 4 12
Mississippi 78 35.5 7-23 27-38 14 41 5 6 11