Jaylen Murray scored a career-high 28 points to lead No. 23 Ole Miss to a 96-85 overtime victory over BYU on Thursday in the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego.
Murray, who hit 10 of 14 shots, forced overtime with a tough game-tying bucket late in regulation and then tallied nine points in the extra session — outscoring the Cougars on his own — as the Rebels (6-0) put the game away.
Ole Miss advanced to face No. 13 Purdue, a 71-61 winner over North Carolina State, in the tournament championship game.
BYU (5-1) will take on the Wolfpack on Friday in the third-place game.
Dre Davis and Matthew Murrell each scored 18 points and Sean Pedulla totaled 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals to help preserve Ole Miss’ undefeated start.
Kanon Catchings led the Cougars with 17 points. Richie Saunders, Egor Demin and Fousseyni Traore each scored 16.
Ole Miss converted 17 BYU turnovers into 23 points and held a 40-26 advantage in the paint.
The Rebels opened OT on a 6-1 run, including four points by Murray.
Catchings made it a two-point game with a 3-pointer, but Murray responded with a three-point play, and then the Rebels secured the win by hitting eight straight free throws in an 8-0 run.
Both teams made clutch plays near the end of regulation, leading to overtime. BYU missed an opportunity to win it as Traore’s off-balanced rush shot was off.
Demin put BYU up 75-71 with a 3. The Cougars had a chance to add to that lead, but Pedulla picked off a pass that led to free throws by Murrell. Dre Davis then tied it with a layup.
Murray followed a pair of Saunders free throws by making a tough shot over Saunders while falling down.
BYU led by 10 in the first half thanks to Saunders and Catchings.
Ole Miss erased the deficit with a 7-0 run. Mihailo Boskovic gave the Cougars a 42-39 halftime edge with a 3-pointer.
The Rebels took a lead in the second half after hitting five straight free throws and went ahead by seven before the Cougars closed the gap.
–Field Level Media
