The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

KAI Jones finished one rebound shy of his second double double this season while head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin, Valerie Nesbitt and their Ole Miss Rebels ended a six-game losing streak.

Jones finished with 11 points and nine rebounds in the No. 6 Longhorns’ 75-67 loss to the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Saturday at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Jones was 3-5 from the field, made his only three-point attempt, shot 4-6 from the free throw line and also added one steal and one block. Jones was limited to just 22 minutes before he fouled out and also had an uncharacteristic five turnovers. “It’s kind of a sliding scale. He’s gotten so much better over the course of the last year and change. He’s going to continue to get better. His energy is effective in helping our team but he’s still a ways away from being the finished product of being able to do some things, particularly out on the floor on a regular basis like lead the break or make certain decisions,” said Texas head coach Shaka Smart.

“The thing we emphasise to him is - let’s work on some of that stuff in practice, as much as we can, we get in the game you have to make the right play for the team. This game was just a tough lesson today because as soon as he made those mistakes he knew but he is improving and we do really need that energy.”

The Longhorns fell to 11-5 on the season and have lost three consecutive games. The programme has had three games postponed or canceled since January 20.

Coach Yo, Nesbitt and the Rebels defeated the No.14 Kentucky Wildcats, 72-60 at the Pavilion in Oxford, Mississippi on February 4.

Nesbitt finished with nine points, three rebounds, and three assists,

Ole Miss improved to 8-7, 2-7 in the Southeastern Conference. It was also the Rebels’ first win since January 7.

Over the course of the last month, Ole Miss has suffered two overtime losses to LSU, a four-point loss to No. 14 Mississippi State, and a one point loss to No.20 Tennessee.

“Extremely grateful for the win, extremely grateful for our players having resilience and not breaking.I thought that they put together 40 minutes. We knew we were close because we had put together 25 minutes, and then 30 minutes, and then at LSU we put together 39 minutes, so the focus for the last couple days was just on finishing, and I thought we did a good job of that tonight,” McPhee-McCuin said, “(We) wanted it. We feel, as a team, like we have lost games. We don’t feel like a lot of people have beat us. We were extremely tired of that, and that’s no knock on Kentucky. Listen, they’ve got one of the best players in the country and they’re ranked for a reason. They’re really good. But we’re really good, too.”

In her first season at Ole Miss, McPhee-McCuin led the Rebels to their last ranked victory, over No. 16 Kentucky on January 13, 2019.