OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss used a strong first half to build a 19-point halftime lead and handed South Alabama its first loss of the season Tuesday night, as David Huertas made seven 3-pointers for the Rebels.
The loss evened South Alabama’s record at 1-1, two games into the 2008-09 season.
Huertas Leads Rebels From Long Range
Huertas went 7-of-13 from 3-point range, tying his career high for made 3-pointers and finishing one short of the Ole Miss single-game school record. He scored 27 points.
As a team, Ole Miss made 11 3-pointers and shot 47 percent from the field, compared with 42 percent for South Alabama.
Turnovers Prove Costly Early
South Alabama led for much of the opening three-plus minutes before a 14-2 Ole Miss run put the Rebels in control.
The Jaguars committed 15 turnovers, 11 of them in the first half. They cut that number to four after halftime.
Davis Scores 19
Brandon Davis, who was named the first Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week of the season on Tuesday, led South Alabama with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting and added three blocked shots.
Up Next
The Jaguars, coached by Ronnie Arrow, continue a three-game road trip at the Billy Minardi Classic hosted by Louisville, where they will face Florida A&M in the opening round with a 7 p.m. tipoff.
South Alabama competes in the Sun Belt Conference and plays its home games at the Mitchell Center in Mobile.
