Eniel Polynice rallies No. 25 Mississippi to 83-67 victory over McNeese State

No. 25 Ole Miss beats McNeese State 83-67

OXFORD, Miss. — Chris Warren scored 20 points and Eniel Polynice had all 12 points and four steals over the final 10 minutes of the game to rally No. 25 Mississippi to an 83-67 victory over McNeese State on Saturday.

The Rebels (8-1) trailed by as many as 15 points early in the second half of their first game since entering the Top 25, but they used defense to blow past the Cowboys (3-5) in the closing minutes.

Ole Miss struggled against McNeese State’s 2-3 zone in the first half, hitting 10 of 28 shots from the field and missing 8 of 11 free-throw attempts. The Rebels left the Cowboys open for both long jumpers and drives to the basket.

The Cowboys built their largest lead with a 29-10 run that spanned halftime and featured seven 3-pointers, including four by Diego Kapelan.

Mississippi answered with an 18-2 run that included eight points from Polynice and gave the Rebels their first lead of the second half, 61-59 with 6:30 left.

The run featured several hustle plays by Polynice, a former starter who now comes off the bench. The Rebels tied the game at 59-59 after he stole the ball near the Cowboys’ basket, walked a tight rope along the left sideline, then found Zach Graham ahead of the defense for a layup.

He followed that with a layup on a 2-on-1 break to give the Rebels the lead, then used a midcourt steal and layup to extend the lead. Terrico White and Warren followed with 3s to put the game away.

Patrick Richard scored 20 points for McNeese State and Kapelan had 18.

It was the second straight come-from-behind win for the Rebels. They trailed by six last weekend against Southern Mississippi before Warren hit two late 3s to give Ole Miss an 81-79 victory.

This time the Rebels outscored their opponent 40-13 to finish the game.