No. 22 Ole Miss men’s basketball suffers first loss of season to No. 5 Tennessee

No. 22 Ole Miss men’s basketball fell 90-64 to No. 5 Tennessee on Saturday night. The Rebels’ first loss of the season came in front of a crowd of more than 21,000 at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The Volunteers put on a dominant performance, led in scoring by Jonas Aidoo with 24 points. Jaemyn Brakefield led the Rebels with 22 points but was just one of two players who scored in double digits for Ole Miss. The other was Jaylen Murray with 11.

Tennessee laid it on from deep — putting up 11 3-pointers. And when the shots didn’t fall, the Volunteers were on the glass to get a second look. They outrebounded the Rebels 47-29, with 19 of those coming on the offensive glass to create 22 second-chance points.

The Rebels put together several runs throughout the first half to keep things close and went into the locker room down nine points. But they let the Volunteers get hot out of the break. They went on a 13-5 run to start the second half and pull away. Tennessee outscored Ole Miss 50-33 in the second half.

Ole Miss will be back in action next Wednesday when they host Florida.