SAN DIEGO (AP) — Jaylen Murray scored nine of his career-high 28 points in overtime and No. 23 Mississippi beat BYU 96-85 on Thursday in the Rady Children’s Invitational to extend its nonconference winning streak to 19 games, the longest in the country.
Murray hit a jumper 1:17 into OT to give the Rebels the lead for good. He added two free throws, a three-point play and two more free throws to help put the game out of reach.
Dre Davis and Matthew Murrell added 18 points apiece for the Rebels (6-0) in a fast-paced, sometimes-chippy game, while Sean Pedulla had 13.
Kanon Catchings scored 17 points to lead five players in double figures for the Cougars (5-1). Egor Demin, Richie Saunders and Fousseyni Traore added 16 apiece, and Mihailo Boskovic had 10.
Ole Miss will face No. 13 Purdue in the championship game on Friday.
Takeaways
BYU: The Cougars hit three 3-pointers in the first 4:40 and seven in the first half, four by Catchings. BYU finished 12 of 38 overall from behind the arc.
Ole Miss: Murray’s previous career high was 26 points in a 77-68 win last season against Mount St. Mary’s.
Key moment
Murray made a layup to tie it at 77 with 26 seconds left in regulation. After Traore missed a short jumper, Pedulla’s desperation heave bounced off the back of the rim.
Key stat
Ole Miss made 29 of 36 free throws, including 10 of 14 by Davis.
Up next
Ole Miss plays No. 13 Purdue in the championship game on Friday. BYU will face NC State.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
