BYU Suffers First Loss Of Season To No. 23 Ole Miss In Overtime
Nov 28, 2024, 6:36 PM
BYU Basketball head coach Kevin Young suffered his first loss as the Cougars had a setback against No. 23 Ole Miss. (Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
(Laura Seitz, Deseret News)
BYU basketball dropped its first game of the season. The Cougars lost to No. 23 Ole Miss in overtime in the Rady Children’s Invitational opening round in San Diego.
Ole Miss defeated BYU 96-85.
Final for round one.
Back again tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/IUGGW266BL
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) November 29, 2024
BYU was 2-of-11 from the field in the overtime period.
Ole Miss guard Jaylen Murray had a career-high 28 points to lift the Rebels past BYU.
BYU had a 75-71 lead with 2:21 left in the second half after Egor Demin buried a three. Ole Miss worked its way back to force overtime and then took over in the extra period.
In overtime, the Rebs were a perfect 13-13 from the free-throw line.
BYU had five players score in double figures, led by Kanon Catchings with 17 points, followed by Egor Demin, Fousseyni Traore, and Richie Saunders with 16 each. Mihailo Boskovic scored 10 points.
BYU committed 17 turnovers, leading to 23 Ole Miss points in the games. The Rebels outscored BYU by 10 in points off turnovers in the game.
First Half
11:58 — Richie Saunders hits double digits for scoring, reaching 11 points at the second media timeout. BYU reeled off a 6-0 run. BYU 20, Ole Miss 14.
7:50 — Kanon Catchings knocked down his first four three-point attempts. One of Catchings’ four three-pointers was a contested corner attempt. BYU 31, Ole Miss 21.
3:43 — BYU only hit one field goal in these four minutes. The Cougars committed seven turnovers to Ole Miss’ four. BYU 37, OM 32.
1:50 — Ole Miss popped off a 7-0 run to tie the game. During that stretch, BYU was on a field goal drought of 4:31. BYU 37, OM 37.
HALF — BYU finished the half with a 42-39 lead after Mihailo Boskovic knocked down a three at the 1:02 mark.
Ole Miss scored 18 points off 10 BYU turnovers in the first half.
Richie Saunders led BYU in scoring with 13 points, followed by Kanon Catchings, who added 12 points. BYU 42, OM 39.
Second Half
15:58 — BYU opened the second half with Keba Keita fouling Sean Pedulla on a three-point attempt. Pedulla knocked down the three free throws, and then Keita picked up another foul, his third of the game, sending him to the bench. BYU’s Egor Demin started to come alive on the offensive end with a quick five-point burst. OM 50, BYU 47.
11:11 — Fousseyni Traore had a posterizing dunk on Ole Miss guard Eduardo Klafke. But that was the lone highlight from BYU’s offense. After the Traore dunk, BYU didn’t make a field goal for 4:33 of game action. OM 55, BYU 50.
8:26 — Ole Miss was up by seven points (59-52) and had possession. BYU guard Dallin Hall stole the ball from Sean Pedulla and had a fastbreak slam dunk.
On the following possession, Egor Demin found a wide-open Trevin Knell for a corner three, causing Chris Beard to call a timeout. OM 59, BYU 57
3:04 — Fousseyni Traore scored six consecutive points to tie up the game. Traore’s post moves have been challenging for Ole Miss defenders to contain. BYU 69, OM 69.
End of Regulation: BYU 77, Ole Miss 77
BYU fed the ball to Fousseyni Traore in the post, and Ole Miss sold out to defend Traore in the paint. The senior center attempted a tough shot in the paint, but it went off the rim. Ole Miss guard Sean Pedulla gathered the ball, took a few dribbles, then had a one-handed heave at the hoop, and it nearly went in. The shot hit off the back of the rim.
Free basketball in San Diego.
Overtime
Ole Miss jumped out to a five-point lead before BYU hit its first field goal in overtime. Kanon Catchings knocked down a second-chance three-pointer to cut the deficit to 83-81.
Ole Miss capitalized at the free-throw line, knocking down all 13 of their attempts at the charity stripe.
Next up for BYU basketball
BYU will face N.C. State in the third-place game of the Rady Children’s Invitational. Tip-off is at 1:30 p.m. (MST) on FOX and KSL NewsRadio.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
