OXFORD, Miss.?Arkansas State's move from man-to-man to a zone defense couldn't slow down the Ole Miss Rebels on Monday as the Indians fell 85-78, despite a career night from Jim Jones, with 25 points.
ASU (4-7) started Kitus Witherspoon in place of Brandon Ballard and switched to a 2-3 and match-up zone for Monday's game to help snap a two-game skid, but Clarence Sanders and Bam Doyne posted career nights by scoring 20 and 24 points, respectively. For the second straight game, ASU failed to ever lead in the contest.
Trailing by seven at the end of the first half, 38-31, ASU came out inspired and quickly sliced the deficit to a single point when Jones nailed a floater from 15-feet to make the score 38-37. Ole Miss coach Rod Barnes called a timeout and one second later Sanders was found underneath for a quick bucket to stop the ASU run.
ASU's run to start the half was answered by a run for the Rebels as the Indians went scoreless over the next 4:15 to push the UM lead back to 10. The Indians couldn't get the lead under double figures again for any length until the final moments of the game. While the Indians shot the ball well in the final few minutes, Ole Miss players stepped up to the free throw line and connected on 11 of 16 attempts from the charity stripe over the final 2:08.
The Indians controlled the tip when Wells swatted the ball to Tipler, but an errant pass allowed the Rebels to take over. After some crisp ball movement by the Rebels, Doyne was found heading to the basket for an easy lay-up.
Jones continued his solid play of late, hitting 11 of 22 shots from the field in scoring 25 points while also grabbing six boards. Wells pumped in 19 points, rounding out the ASU players in double figures.
ASU will next face Missouri State on December 22 in a rematch of a game played earlier at Jonesobor on November 21. In that game, ASU couldn't overcome the MSU 3-point shooters and fell 68-63. Tipoff for that game at Springfield, Mo., is set for 7:00 p.m.
