Pinkins’ floater with 18.8 seconds left helps Ole Miss beat Mississippi State 68-67

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Ilias Kamardine and AJ Storr scored 17 points apiece, Patton Pinkins made the go-ahead jumper with 18.8 seconds left, and Mississippi beat Mississippi State 68-67 on Saturday night for its third win in a row.

Malik Dia had eight points on 3-of-10 shooting and 11 rebounds for Ole Miss (11-7, 3-2 SEC).

Mississippi State (10-8 2-3) has lost three in a row despite having a double-digit lead in each of those games.

Jayden Epps led the Bulldogs with 14 points on 4-of-18 shooting. Jamarion Davis-Fleming made 6 of 8 from the field and finished 13 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. Josh Hubbard, who went in averaging 22.8 points (No. 7 nationally), also scored 13 but made just 3 of 16 overall, 2 of 8 from 3, and 5 of 10 from the free-throw line.

Storr hit a step-back jumper that gave the Rebels a four-point lead with 1:16 to play before Hubbard answered 10 seconds later with a contested pull-up 3 from NBA range and then made two free throws with 34 seconds remaining to put Mississippi State up 67-66. Pinkins hit a baseline floater that capped the scoring.

Hubbard missed two free throws with 12 seconds left and, after Storr missed the front end of a 1-and-1, missed a potential winning layup before the buzzer.

Kamardine made a layup and James Scott followed with a two-hand dunk that gave Ole Miss its first lead of the game, 34-32, with 17:05 remaining.

The teams combined to make 7 of 47 (14.9%) from 3-point range in a game that featured 13 lead changes and seven ties, all in the second half.

Mississippi State is 152-121 against the Rebels in the 12th-most played rivalry in the history of college basketball.

Up next

Ole Miss: Hosts Auburn on Tuesday.

Mississippi State: Plays Wednesday at Texas A&M.

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