FINAL: MSU 73, Ole Miss 67

Recapping MSU’s 73-67 win over Ole Miss at Humphrey Coliseum on Saturday.

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• The buzz: You can call this one the biggest win of the young Rick Ray era, as the Bulldogs (8-20, 3-13 SEC) snapped a 13-game losing streak and severely damaged the NCAA tournament hopes of Ole Miss (21-8, 10-6). MSU dominated in the paint and held Marshall Henderson, who scored 31 points in these teams’ first meeting, to 16 points on 4-of-19 shooting.

• Turning point: MSU led 45-43 and had been held scoreless for 6:05 in the second half, then it went on an 18-8 run. Colin Borchert‘s jumper made it 63-51 with 4:20 left.

• Ole Miss leaders: Murphy Holloway 22 points (11-18 FGs, 0-2 FTs), 19 rebounds; Henderson 16 points (4-19 FGs, 3-18 3FGs, 5-5 FTs).

• MSU leaders: Borchert 21 points (7-10 FGs, 3-4 3FGs, 4-4 FTs), 7 rebounds; Gavin Ware 12 points (4-6 FGs, 4-6 FTs), 6 rebounds; Jalen Steele 10 points (3-11 FGs, 1-7 3FGs, 3-4 FTs); Roquez Johnson 10 points (4-6 FGs, 2-5 FTs), 5 rebounds; Craig Sword 7 points (1-4 FGs, 1-3 3FGs, 4-6 FTs), 9 assists, 4 steals, 7 turnovers.

• Key stats: MSU shot 41.7 percent overall, including 28.6 percent from 3-point range. … State was 27 of 37 (73 percent) at the free throw line. … Ole Miss shot 33.8 percent overall, including 20.7 percent from 3-point range. … OM made 11 of 16 (68.8 percent) from the free throw line. … MSU committed 19 turnovers, Ole Miss 16. … The Rebels won the rebounding battle, 44-40.

• Quotable: “Everybody was playing as one. It felt like everybody was just going against the other team.” – Steele

• Bottom line: MSU, which had lost its last two home games by a combined 83 points, started fast this time and found a second wind after the second-half scoring drought. The frontcourt was dominant, partly evidenced by Ole Miss’ Reggie Buckner‘s tough game: five points on 2-of-7 shooting, five rebounds, plus he received a technical foul and fouled out with 2:20 left. As you can tell in the celebration video above, this win means a lot to this program.

• Up next: MSU travels to South Carolina on Wednesday (6 p.m., ESPN3.com).