Texas dominates down the stretch to slip past Ole Miss

Matas Vokietaitis scored 27 points and Texas dominated the final three minutes to rally for a 79-68 victory over Ole Miss on Saturday at Austin, Texas.

Tramon Mark scored 19 points and Jordan Pope added 13, including a four-point play with 2:43 remaining as the Longhorns (15-9, 6-5 SEC) extended their winning streak to three games.

Texas shot 53.9% from the floor to 40.7% for Ole Miss.

Eduardo Klafke scored 16 points with six rebounds and Ilias Kamardine added 11 points as Ole Miss (11-12, 3-7) lost its fifth consecutive game. Kezza Giffa and Paton Pinkins each scored 10 points for the Rebels.

Trailing 68-65 with 3:35 remaining, Texas took charge by going on a 14-0 run over the remainder of the game. The run started on a 3-pointer and free throw from Pope with 2:43 remaining for a 69-68 lead. Simeon Wilcher added a 3-pointer with 41 seconds remaining.

Daylin Swain followed with a three-point play to extend the Longhorns’ lead to four points inside two minutes remaining. The Longhorns iced it with four free throws over the final 29 seconds.

Ole Miss trailed 41-31 with 18:31 remaining before putting together a 16-4 run to take a 47-45 lead with 12:12 left in the game. Texas did not surge back into the lead until they went up 53-52 with 9:37 remaining.

Vokietaitis went 9 of 12 from the free-throw line for Texas, while the Longhorns went 20 of 23 from the line in the game.

Texas led by as many as 18 points in the first half at 29-11 with 7:21 remaining before the break. Vokietaitis scored 16 points in the first half while going 5 of 7 from the field and pulling down five rebounds.

Both teams shot 57.7% from the floor in the second half but the Rebels missed their last seven shots and eight of their last 10 over the final 3:35 of the game.

–Field Level Media