Jaemyn Brakefield scored 25 points as Ole Miss remained undefeated with a 72-52 victory over visiting North Carolina State in the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge in Oxford, Miss., on Tuesday.
Brakefield shot 8 of 12 from the floor and 7 of 7 from the charity stripe while also grabbing eight rebounds for the Rebels (6-0). He was one of four Ole Miss players to score in double figures, as Allen Flanigan had 15 points and 10 boards, while Jaylen Murray and Matthew Murrell scored 12 points each.
Ben Middlebrooks powered NC State (4-2) in its second straight loss with 13 points and 12 rebounds off the bench for his first career double-double. Casey Morsell added 12 points.
Ole Miss led wire-to-wire and started the game out on a 14-3 run. Six of the Rebels points during that stretch were scored on second-chance opportunities. NC State was able to limit those for the rest of the game — as the Rebels finished with just 12 second-chance points.
But from start to finish, the Wolfpack struggled to make shots while they fell with ease for Ole Miss. The Rebels shot 7 of 20 (35 percent) from 3-point land compared to 3 of 25 (12 percent) for NC State. After the Wolfpack made their first shot from behind the arc less than two minutes into the game, another deep shot didn’t fall for them until 15 minutes later. DJ Horne and Jayden Taylor were especially off the mark, shooting a combined 2 of 14 from 3-point range for NC State.
Ole Miss led by as many as 24 points, turning 13 NC State turnovers into 13 points. The Wolfpack scored just four points off seven Ole Miss turnovers.
From an analytics perspective, the result is an upset, considering NC State entered the game ranked 56th in the Ken Pomeroy efficiency ratings, while Ole Miss was 125th.
NC State opens Atlantic Coast Conference play in its next game, traveling to Boston College on Saturday. Ole Miss hosts regional rival Memphis on the same day.
–Field Level Media
