Adam Clark scored 17 points, Patton Pinkins had 16 and hot-shooting Ole Miss never trailed in rolling past Alcorn State 99-58 in the season opener for both teams Monday night in Oxford, Miss.
Santiago Trouet scored 15, Christian Brown had 12 and Corey Stephenson added 10 for the Rebels (15-20, 4-14 in the SEC last season), who shot 57 percent from the floor and scored 39 points off 26 Braves turnovers. Ole Miss turned the ball over 11 times and had advantages of 56-10 in points in the paint and 27-11 in fast-break points.
Calvin Sirmans scored 20 points, making 6-of-8 field-goal attempts, including 4-of-5 3-pointers, and Bobby Cannon had 14 points to lead the Braves (9-23 and 7-11 in the SWAC last season).
Ole Miss, which led by double figures most of the first half and by 21 at halftime, scored the first eight points of the second half to open a 60-31 lead. Cannon made a jumper and Jaylin Craine added a 3-pointer for Alcorn’s first points of the half.
Stephenson scored six consecutive points to expand the lead to 30 points, and the Rebels led by as many as 46. Ole Miss outscored the Braves 23-10 on free throws.
Three Rebels scored two points each as they took a quick 6-0 lead before Sirmans made a 3-pointer for the Braves’ first points, but that was their only field goal during the first nine minutes.
Pinkins scored six points during a 16-1 surge that gave Ole Miss a 22-4 lead before Jahseem Felton made a 3-pointer to end Alcorn’s field-goal drought of more than six minutes.
Saxby Sunderland made the Braves’ third 3-pointer, Jayan Walker made their first two-point field goal and Sirmans added another 3-pointer to trim the lead to 32-18.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Trouet and Pinkins pushed the lead to 20 before Alcorn crept within 14 on two more occasions. The Rebels took their biggest lead of the half when Clark’s layup gave them a 52-31 halftime edge.