OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- Dwayne Curtis had 23 points and Brian Smith
hit two decisive 3-pointers in the final 3 minutes to help
Mississippi defeat Southeastern Louisiana 68-62 on Wednesday night.
Ole Miss (8-3) erased a nine-point deficit in the final 13
minutes behind Bam Doyne, who finished with 15 points. Curtis, a
290-pound Auburn transfer, added nine rebounds and made 10 of 15
shots.Smith, a backup guard who's the son of Kentucky coach Tubby
Smith, hit consecutive 3-pointers, the last giving Ole Miss an
insurmountable 62-58 lead with 1:56 remaining.Southeastern Louisiana (5-5) didn't get closer than three the
rest of the way in losing its fifth straight.Ricky Woods led the Lions with 14 points. Chris Lee and Quennell
Green had 11 points each, while Joseph Polite finished with 10.Southeastern led by as many as 12 in the first half and held a
40-31 lead at halftime, but the Lions made just four shots in the
final 15 minutes.Ole Miss, which trailed 50-41 with 14:25 left, used a 13-2 run
and took its first lead at 54-52 on a layup by Todd Abernethy with
about 6 minutes remaining.The Rebels finished a six-games-in-12-days stretch with a 5-1
record. They outrebounded Southeastern 40-30, forced 15 turnovers
and shot 45 percent.
