Johnson’s 18 leads Mississippi State to 71-63 win and season sweep of Mississippi

Mississippi State defeats Ole Miss 71-63

STARKVILLE, Miss. — Ravern Johnson scored 18 points and Mississippi State swept the season series with archrival Mississippi for the fourth time in seven years with a 71-63 win on Thursday night.

Johnson hit four 3-pointers and combined with Kodi Augustus on a 14-7 run to open the second half and help the Bulldogs (17-7, 5-4 Southeastern Conference) to their third straight win over the Rebels (17-7, 5-5) — the longest streak since winning eight from 2002-05.

It was the third loss in four games for Ole Miss, which dropped out of the Top 25 this week.

The Bulldogs won for the 23rd time in 26 games against the Rebels in Starkville by holding the SEC’s No. 2 scoring team nearly 18 points below its average.

Barry Stewart scored 12 and Jarvis Varnado and Dee Bost had 11 each for Mississippi State.

Eniel Polynice led Ole Miss with 14.