Xzayvier Brown stays hot to elevate Oklahoma over Ole Miss
Xzayvier Brown scored a season-high 23 points to lead Oklahoma to an 86-70 Southeastern Conference win over Ole Miss on Saturday in Norman, Okla.
The Sooners (11-3, 1-0 SEC) have won five consecutive games while the Rebels (8-6, 0-1) have lost six of nine.
Nijel Pack and Tae Davis added 15 points each, Kuol Atak scored 14 and Mohamed Wague had 10 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks.
Patton Pinkins led Ole Miss with 25 points off the bench, 11 points more than his previous best as he canned 9 of 11 shots from the field. Malik Dia added 17 points.
Brown has scored at least 21 points in four of the last five games after averaging just 8.4 points in his previous five games.
The Saint Joseph's transfer is shooting 63.8% during that five-game span, including 53.6% from 3-point range. Brown went 8 of 11 on Saturday, which featured 4 of 5 from beyond the arc.
Oklahoma led for the entirety of the second half, but its lead was trimmed to 65-62 on Ilias Kamardine's pair of free throws with 8:08 to play.
Then the Sooners took control.
Oklahoma scored eight consecutive points to kick off a 17-4 run to put the game away. Ole Miss hit just two field goals in the final eight minutes.
Ole Miss took a 24-21 lead just more than seven minutes into the game on Dia's 4-point play. The Sooners responded with an 11-0 run fueled by five consecutive points from Atak.
Atak's dunk put Oklahoma ahead, then he followed it by draining a 3-pointer on the next possession after Wague's steal from Dia.
After going 8 for 13 from the field through Dia's 3-pointer, the Rebels missed 12 consecutive shots and went nearly eight minutes without a field goal.
Though the Sooners stretched their lead to 35-26 on Atak's 3-pointer with 4:50 left in the first half, the Rebels didn't go away easily.
Ole Miss hit four 3-pointers over the final four minutes to tie the game before Wague's dunk in the final minute sent Oklahoma into halftime with a 43-41 lead.
After going 9 of 15 from beyond the arc in the first half, the Rebels were just 1 of 11 from deep in the second half.