Devontae Shuler, the current SEC Player of the Week, set his career record with 31 points, while Ole Miss defeated South Carolina 81-74 in Columbia on Saturday. The victory was the fourth in a row for Kermit Davis’ Ole Miss squad and improved the rebels to 12-8 overall and 7-6 at the Southeast Conference. Shuler scored 18 of his 31 points in the second half. Born in Irmo, SC, it was the veteran’s last university game in his home state. It was a solid and versatile homecoming effort for Shuler when he distributed the team’s highlights with four assists and seven rebounds. Shuler finished the game 8 to 13 on the floor and 2 to 5 in the three-point range. he hit 13 out of 16 attempts at the free-throw line.
Shuler blocked a shot and was subsequently knocked out and hit a couple of free throws in the final seconds of the game to preserve Ole Miss’s victory. It was his tenth consecutive game to reach double digits in the score column.
“It means a lot,” said Shuler. “I never won here. I just crashed because I knew it was my last game here and for my team and family in the stands. I did what I did to make them happy.”
South Carolina dropped to 5-9 overall and 3-7 in the SEC.
“Whenever you get a win on the road in this league, it’s precious,” said Ole Miss head coach Kermit Davis, “especially against a well-trained team. I thought that when we got to 18 our team really showed a lot of stance, very cautious I am very proud of our team.
The victory can only help the rebels’ post-season chances as they were listed on ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi’s ranking as one of the “next four teams eliminated” before Saturday’s competition. The rebels were spared a midweek game at the time of writing, as they are scheduled to play in the state of Mississippi next Saturday in Oxford. However, there is some speculation that they could be paired with LSU in a midweek game, as both teams have dates available. Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis, however, neither confirmed nor denied Saturday night’s speculation.
“I can’t say it now, not publicly, but we’re going to make an announcement, maybe in the morning, and get out of there,” said Davis.
Ole Miss led 36-28 at the break and led for more than 37 minutes that night. The Rebels built an 18-point lead in the second half, before Gamecocks reduced the lead to five in a minute to play. Ole Miss was on a cruise before a 6-0 race Gamecocks reduced the lead to 76-69 with one minute and 28 seconds remaining in the game.
Ole Miss hit 50 percent on the field, compared to 42 percent in South Carolina. The rebels benefited tremendously from the foul line, hitting 34 of – 44 free throws in the game. Ole Miss’s defense forced 18 hits in South Carolina, registering 16 steals, three of them coming from Luis Rodriguez before he lost.
Romello White followed Shuler with 14 points and KJ Buffen added 12. Shuler, White and Buffen were the only rebels to finish with double digits in the score column.
AJ Lawson led South Carolina with 22 points. Gamecocks lost sophomore guards Jermaine Couisnard at the start of the first half with an apparent ankle injury.
TIP-INS
- Ole Miss leads the 22-20 series.
- First victory in Colombia since 2014.
- The second streak of four consecutive SEC game wins under Kermit Davis.
- On his return to his home state, Devontae Shuler scored 31 points, the best of his career.
- Shuler’s score was higher for a Rebel this season.
- It was the 10th consecutive game that Shuler reached double digits, as well as his first game of 30 points in his career.
- Ole Miss hit 34 free throws, the record of the season, hitting 34 of 44 from the line.
- The rebels have released at least 30 for the first time since they turned 31 against Missouri four years ago (March 9, 2017).
- KJ Buffen scored 12 points off the bench, his highest score since he scored 18 against Wichita State (January 2).
- The rebels had 11 steals, recording at least 10 steals for the seventh time this season.
- With 3 steals, Luis Rodriguez produced his 13th multi-theft game of the season.