No. 21 Ole Miss stifles No. 4 Alabama on the road to headline marquee slate of SEC games
FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS – JANUARY 08: Malik Dia #0 of the Ole Miss Rebels celebrates with Dre Davis #14 after a play in the second half of a game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena on January 08, 2025 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Rebels defeated the Razorbacks 73-66. (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
In a spotlight night for the SEC, No. 21 Ole Miss was the biggest winner on Tuesday.
Mississippi went into Alabama and knocked off the No. 4 Crimson Tide with a 74-64 stunner. The upset highlighted a marquee night in the SEC with saw three matchups of teams ranked in the top 25. Mississippi held the nation’s highest scoring offense more than 27 points below its scoring average.
But the night in the SEC belonged to the Rebels, who pulled off the win in a hostile road environment. With their corresponding wins, Mississippi and Auburn both improved to 4-0 as the only remaining undefeated teams in SEC play. The road win was the first in school history on the road over a top-5 team.
Alabama was in control early and opened up a 36-32 halftime lead. But junior forward Malik Dia powered Mississippi with an 23-point effort highlighted by a critical and-1 late in the game. With Mississippi holding a 56-51 lead inside the final eight minutes, Dia attacked Alabama’s Grant Nelson with a baseline drive.
Nelson met him at the rim and blocked his shot. But Dia gathered the rebound for an and-1 layup through an Alabama double team.
He sunk the free throw to quiet the Alabama crowd and maintain control of the game for Mississippi. An Alabama team that leads the nation with 91.1 points per game never threatened again.