Adam Clark scored 23 points to lead five double-figure scorers, and Ole Miss rode a suffocating defense to a 91-51 victory against Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday night in Oxford, Miss.
Corey Stephenson, Ilias Kamardine and Santiago Trouet added 12 points each, and Christian Brown scored 11 for the Rebels (3-0), who took command by outscoring the Lions (1-2) 30-3 during an 11-plus-minute stretch in the first half en route to a 29-point halftime lead.
The defensive dominance continued a pattern in each of Ole Miss’ games. The Rebels averaged 12 steals, 22 forced turnovers and 29.5 points off turnovers in home victories against Alcorn State (99-58) and Central Arkansas (92-60). They had nine steals among Southeastern Louisiana’s 13 first-half turnovers, leading to a 25-0 edge in points off turnovers as well as an 11-0 edge in fastbreak points.
Ole Miss led by as many as 45 in the second half and finished with 16 steals, along with advantages of 39-9 in points off turnovers and 27-0 in fastbreak points.
Jackson Furman scored 13 points as the only Lion in double figures.
Yanis Ndjonga made two layups for Southeastern Louisiana’s first four points, and Tyler Rolison added a jumper and a 3-pointer as the Lions took an 11-8 lead. Four Rebels scored during a 9-0 run that gave them a six-point lead before Furman made a jumper for Southeastern Louisiana’s first field goal in nearly five minutes.
Ole Miss followed with another 9-0 run as Ben Henshall hit a 3-pointer, Stephenson made a jumper and Trouet added two jumpers to expand the lead to 26-13. Rolison made a free throw to end the run, but Stephenson and Zach Day made consecutive 3-pointers to complete a 10-0 run that pushed the lead to 38-14.
Haki Muhammad II made a free throw to stop that run, and Ashley Sims II made a layup to end the Lions’ 8 1/2-minute field-goal drought. However, the Rebels increased the lead to 49-20 at halftime.