OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Aaron Harper scored 22 points and Mississippi won its first Southeastern Conference game by defeating LSU 53-49 on Wednesday night.
Justin Reed added 16 points for the Rebels (9-6, 1-3 SEC), who limited LSU to a single field goal in the final 11 minutes of play.
Harper finished 7-of-16 from the field and had a game-high five assists for the Rebels, who avoided their worst conference start since 1995 when they opened 0-5.
Jaime Lloreda had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Tigers (12-3, 2-2).
The 49-point output was a season low for the Tigers. LSU has scored less than 60 points in all three losses this season.
Harper hit a 3-point shot and followed with an assist for a Justin Johnson layup to give Ole Miss a 50-42 lead with 6:45 left.
The Tigers missed five free throws in the final four minutes.
The Tigers led only twice, both in the opening eight minutes.
Ole Miss took a 15-9 lead midway through the first half on a 7-0 run.
Ole Miss led 32-26 at halftime.
Midway through the second half, LSU made its best run of the night, hitting 7-of-10 from the field to pull to 43-42 with 10:52 left on two free throws from Brandon Bass.
But the Rebels, led by Harper, then built a 50-42 lead that proved to be insurmountable.
The Rebels finished 21-of-56 from the field, but only 3-of-16 from 3-point range.
The Rebels also struggled at the free throw line, hitting 8-of-13, but had only seven turnovers and dominated defensively in the final 11 minutes.