Video: Ole Miss Opens The Pavilion with a Victory over Alabama

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OXFORD, Miss. (WCBI/AP) — Sebastian Saiz and Stefan Moody both scored 21 points and Mississippi won the first game in its new arena by beating Alabama 74-66 on Thursday night.

Ole Miss (11-3, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) played in front of a sellout crowd of 9,500 at the $96.5 million arena called The Pavilion, which took about 18 months to build. It replaced the outdated Tad Smith Coliseum, where the Rebels had played for nearly 50 years.

Saiz added 16 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end, and shot 8 of 13 from the field.

Alabama (9-4, 0-1) had a 40-32 lead at halftime thanks to a hot shooting touch from 3-point range, but Ole Miss slowly chipped away at the lead and dominated most of the final 10 minutes.

Alabama’s Retin Obasohan led the Crimson Tide with 23 points.

The Rebels jumped out to a 25-15 lead in the first 11 minutes, riding the emotion of playing in front of the energized crowd, which was the largest crowd in school history. But it didn’t last — Alabama responded with a 25-7 run to take a 40-32 halftime lead. The Tide were 7 of 13 from 3-point range in the first half.

Ole Miss slowly rallied in the second half and a Martavious Newby layup put the Rebels ahead 53-52 with about nine minutes remaining. The Rebels slowly pulled away down the stretch, with Saiz grabbing several important rebounds.

Moody is the first Ole Miss player to score at least 20 points in nine straight games since 1992. He shot 13 of 16 from the free-throw line. Tomasz Gielo added 12 points for the Rebels.

TIP-INS

Ole Miss: Gielo made the first basket in The Pavilion, rattling home a 3-pointer to give the Rebels an early lead. … The national anthem was sung by Meagan Kennedy — coach Andy Kennedy’s oldest daughter.

Alabama: The Tide lost for just the second time in nine games. They have wins over Clemson, Notre Dame and Wichita State during that stretch.

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