By Parrish Alford

Daily Journal

OXFORD - Ole Miss kept Ravern Johnson, the SEC's leading 3-point shooter, in check on Saturday, but there was a problem.

Mississippi State had a defensive answer, too.

Bulldogs freshman point guard Dee Bost made things tough on Ole Miss freshman Terrico White, and MSU locked up third place in the SEC Western Division with an 82-80 win Saturday before a crowd of 9,030 at Tad Smith Coliseum.

The Rebels (16-14, 7-8 SEC) were seeking their first season sweep of the Bulldogs (19-12, 9-7) since 1998.

White was 4-for-8 from 3-point range when Ole Miss won 67-63 in Starkville on Jan. 31. In the rematch he had 21 points but was only 3-for-11 behind the arc.

The Bulldogs will face Georgia at 2:15 p.m. Thursday in the first round of the SEC tournament in Tampa. The Rebels won't know their first-round opponent until after Alabama plays at Tennessee today. They will play either Kentucky or Vanderbilt.

Barry Stewart led MSU with 17 points, and Kodi Augustus added 13 off the bench.

Ole Miss center Malcolm White finished with 20 points after hitting his first seven field goal attempts.

'Something good'

"We've had a couple of losses that can tear the heart out of a team, but we're sitting here with nine wins," MSU coach Rick Stansbury said. "This team needed something good to happen to it on the road in a tight situation."

While Terrico White wasn't at his best, he was the reason the Rebels had a shot to win at the buzzer, as he bounced a 3-pointer in to make it 81-80 with 9 seconds left.

Bost was fouled quickly on the in-bounds pass and missed his second free throw. After a timeout, Ole Miss freshman Murphy Holloway got the ball to White, who let fly about two steps beyond halfcourt but was right of the rim and hit the glass.

"We wanted to get the ball to Terrico going to his right, so his momentum would carry him a little bit. It was the best look we could get given the time," Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said.

Too many other looks by White were disrupted by Bost, most of those in the critical second half.

Bost played only six minutes in the first half after early foul trouble.

"I told him he ought to have fresh legs. He was an assistant coach in the first half," Stansbury said. "He was stiff early. Terrico went by him to the rim, but once he settled in, he was pretty good."

White scored seven points in the last 44 seconds. He said State's scouting report was effective.

"There were a couple of plays we ran where he knew where I was going to go, and I had to change direction," White said.

Bost had 13 points, all in the second half. He was 9-for-11 from the free throw line.

"In the second half I got kind of aggressive," Bost said. "Defense is one of the areas I need to improve most, especially as a good on-ball defender."

In a game that lasted roughly 2 hours, 20 minutes, there were a combined 72 free throws, and State had the upper hand there. The Bulldogs shot 75.7 percent - including 15-of-19 in the second half - to the Rebels' 68.6 percent.

While State was missing Bost in the first half, foul trouble cost the Bulldogs crucial minutes for Stewart and center Jarvis Varnado in the second half, but the Rebels were unable to take advantage.

From a 42-all game at the half, Ole Miss built a 63-57 lead after Terrico White dunked with a loose ball at the 10:40 mark.

A three-point play by Bost tied it at 65. The Bulldogs surged to a 71-66 lead at the 6:28 mark after back-to-back 3-pointers by Stewart and Phil Turner.

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