OXFORD, Miss.: Devontae Shuler scored 15 points and fueled a second-half rally as Mississippi beat No. 11 Tennessee 52-50 on Tuesday night, the Rebels’ first win over a ranked team in more than two years.
Ole Miss (9-8, 4-6 Southeastern Conference) rallied from an 11-point first-half deficit and then withstood a late challenge by the Volunteers (12-4, 8-4) to stop a two-game skid.
Trailing by five points in the final minute, Tennessee cut it to 51-49 on Keon Johnson’s 3-pointer with 42 seconds left. Shuler worked the clock down but missed on a drive, and Johnson grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled.
He missed the first free throw with 3.5 seconds left but made the second to make it 51-50. The Vols quickly fouled Robert Allen, who made 1 of 2 foul shots.
Josiah-Jordan James’s 3-point attempt at the buzzer bounced off the rim.
Yves Pons led the Vols with 13 points and Johnson had 11. James finished with 10 but didnt have a field goal after making three 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes.
Shuler was 7 of 17 from the field but scored 11 points after halftime. Romello White, a onetime Tennessee recruit, finished with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
The low-scoring game featured the SECs top two defenses.
Shuler scored seven straight points to cap an 11-0 run that gave Ole Miss a 46-42 lead with 4:37 remaining. He scored on a steal and a fast-break layup, giving Mississippi its first lead since the opening minutes, and followed up a missed shot by burying a 3-pointer.
The Volunteers missed 11 straight shots down the stretch but managed to tie the game by hitting 4 of 6 free throws. Johnson made a pair with 2:54 remaining.
BIG PICTURE
Tennessee: The Vols couldn’t carry over the momentum from a big win over Kansas and had a five-game win streak in the series stopped.
Mississippi: Forced 11 turnovers in the second half and 16 overall to get a much-needed win.
UP NEXT
Tennessee visits Kentucky Saturday night for the first of two meetings this month.
Mississippi goes for the season sweep over Auburn, visiting the Tigers on Saturday.
___
More AP college basketball: http://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25