Colby Rogers shines as Memphis rolls past Ole Miss

Colby Rogers made 6 of 9 3-pointers and scored 28 points as host Memphis defeated No. 16 Ole Miss 87-70 on Saturday afternoon.

Rogers fouled out and finished one 3-pointer and one point short of his career-highs in both categories and Memphis never trailed. PJ Haggerty added 17 points, Dain Dainja had 16 and Moussa Cisse, an Ole Miss transfer who’s in his second stint with the Tigers (10-3), had 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Sean Pedulla scored 13, Jaylen Murray had 12 and Malik Dia added 11 to lead the Rebels (11-2), who had won their last five games.

Memphis scored the first five points of the second half to increase its lead to 43-36. Pedulla made a layup for Ole Miss’ first points, but Nicholas Jourdain made consecutive field goals to push the lead to nine.

Mikeal Brown-Jones made two free throws for the Rebels before Haggerty made a 3-pointer and Cisse added a tip-in for a 52-40 lead. Pedulla made a jumper before Brown-Jones was ejected for committing a Flagrant 2 foul.

Haggerty made both of the technical free throws and Rogers added two 3-pointers to push the lead to 16.

Ole Miss got within 11 points four times, but couldn’t get any closer until Matthew Murrell’s dunk trimmed the lead to 76-67 with five minutes remaining. Rogers answered with a 3-pointer and Dainja added two field goals to increase the lead to 16.

Murray made a free throw, but the Rebels didn’t make a field goal during the final 5:32.

The Tigers scored the first four points of the game and Haggerty had four as they opened a 9-2 lead. The Rebels made consecutive field goals before Memphis scored eight straight points for a 17-6 lead.

Eduardo Klafke made a 3-pointer to end the run, but Rogers’ 3-pointer helped the Tigers increase the lead to 27-14. Ole Miss scored the next seven points before Cisse’s basket ended the run.

The Rebels closed within four points four times Brown-Jones made two free throws to trim the lead to 38-36 at halftime.