Box Score
HONOLULU, Hawaii -- Though head coach
Rex Walters is beyond looking for silver linings in any loss, he knows the performance his team turned in against Ole Miss on Sunday at the Diamond Head Classic will be good enough to win a lot of games this season -- just not this one.
Ole Miss outlasted USF, 85-78 in the consolation bracket of the Diamond Head Classic, dropping the Dons record to 5-6 on the year while the Rebels improve to 9-2.
The game was uptempo from the start, despite the local tip-off time of 10:00 a.m., and featured nine lead changes.
USF was paced by
Cody Doolin's 20 points while De'End Parker finished with 17 and
Cole Dickerson chipped in with 14.
Murphy Holloway led Ole Miss scorers with 23 points to go along with 13 rebounds. Nick Williams added 18, Marshall Henderson 12 and Jarvis Summers finished with 11.
USF shot 50.9 percent from the field but were outrebounded for a sixth straight game, 33-27.
The Dons led by as many as 13 points in the first half, the last time at 32-19 at the 6:17 mark, only to see the Rebels go on a 24-6 run to cut the lead to 38-33 at intermission.
Ole Miss started fast in the second half and built a six point lead at 46-40 with 16:52 remaining.
USF regained the lead at 48-46 on a three-pointer by Dickerson and led by four points at 62-58 at the 8:00 minute mark after a pair of free throws by Parker.
The Rebels cut the lead to one at 62-61 when Marshall Henderson made free throws after being fouled by Doolin on a three-point attempt.
After Aaron Jones blocked a slam dunk attempt by Dickerson, Nick Williams hit a three on the other end to give the Rebels a 64-62 lead with 7:21 left.
Holloway then stripped Doolin near midcourt and raced for an uncontested dunk to boost the Rebel lead to 66-62 with 7:14 left.
Ole Miss was nursing a two-point lead at 70-68 with 4:25 left when Williams hit another three-pointer to give the Rebels a five-point cushion at 73-68 with 3:57 remaining.
USF could get no closer than three points down the stretch, as the Rebels made nine of their last 11 free throws to close out the game.
"It's a game we can build on," said Walters. "I thought our guys did a good job in executing the game plan. We are growing up but we aren't there yet.
"We have ourselves a chance but they were just more physical than we were."
USF also received solid minutes off the bench from freshmen Avry Holmes, who finished with nine points, and Matt Christiansen, who added four points and three rebounds in a 25-minute playing stint before fouling out.
After a day off tomorrow, USF will play either Hawaii or East Tennessee State on Christmas Day at a time to be determined.
