By Kenneth Cross
NASHVILLE – The Mississippi State Bulldogs struggled throughout much of the second half in Thursday afternoon’s SEC Tournament opener, but center Tolu Smith scored on a layup with five seconds remaining to give MSU a 69-68 lead.
Florida guard Myreon Jones missed a three at the buzzer which would have won the game for the Gators.
Jones nailed a pair of threes to push the Gators even with Mississippi State at 57-57 with 40 seconds remaining in regulation. He missed a shot at the buzzer as overtime fell on the SEC opener on Thursday afternoon.
Smith preceded with an and-one before Shawn Jones slammed a one-handed dunk off an ally-oop on a fast break to give MSU a 62-57 overtime lead. Florida’s Riley Kugel scored five in a row and Niles Lane put the Gators ahead 68-67 with 11 seconds left in overtime.
Smith finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds to lead MSU, who led 36-22 late in the first half.
“Every night, he knows he is going to get double teams, people are going to come at him,” said Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans about Tolu Smith. “Ye’s obviously not a great foul shooter. Why not foul him a little bit more and make the referees call it or not?”
Second-Half Surge Boosts Tennessee Over Ole Miss
Tennessee led 39-33 over Ole Miss at the half as the Vols closed on an 8-2 run with a Josiah Jordan-James three-pointer off the deep left baseline to end the half.
The Volunteers controlled the second half and thwarted a Rebels run that moved them to within 50-46 on a jumper by Amaree Abram.
Then, Santiago Vescovi and Tyreke Key buried a pair of threes to put Tennessee out ahead, 60-50, before Vescovi led the Vols by making four free throws down the stretch for the 70-55 win.
Both teams started 5-of-8 from three as Ole Miss guard Jeremy Brakefield had two while Josiah Jordan-James connected on three of Tennessee’s first five makes as he made two from distance as well.
Ole Miss grabbed a 25-19 lead before Olivier Nkamhoua and Santiago Vescovi hit a pair of threes to change the momentum and give Tennessee a 27-25 advantage.
Ole Miss scored 19 points against 14 Tennessee turnovers while the Vols out rebounded the Rebels, 38-22.
“I think we can still get better,” explained Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes. “I want to see us play defense and rebound. Offensively, 19 points off turnovers can’t happen. If we are the defensive team we want to be and should be, we have to make teams get out and play against it.”