Davis scores 20, Pedulla adds 16 as No. 23 Ole Miss beats Louisville 86-63 in SEC/ACC Challenge

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Dre Davis scored 20 points, Sean Pedulla added 16 and No. 23 Mississippi shot 63% in the second half to beat short-handed Louisville 86-63 on Tuesday night in the SEC/ACC Challenge.

Hot shooting jump-started the Rebels (7-1) in both halves, especially during a second-half spurt in which they made seven consecutive baskets over 2:52. That built a 58-41 cushion that Ole Miss later expanded to 27 as it bounced back from its loss last week to No. 12 Purdue.

Davis, who played his first two seasons for Louisville, finished 9 of 12 from the field and scored 13 first-half points. Pedulla made 6 of 11 from the field, including a 3 for the Rebels’ first basket.

Chucky Hepburn scored 19 points for the Cardinals (5-3), who have lost forward Kasean Pryor (torn ACL) and guard Koren Johnson (shoulder) to season-ending injuries. Louisville missed its first 12 3-pointers and shot just 33%.

Takeaways

Ole Miss: The Rebels shot 57%, including 40% from deep, and outscored the Cardinals 48-26 in the paint.

Louisville: The Cardinals got to the free-low line often enough to get within single digits late in the first half. They couldn’t match Ole Miss’ speed, size or shooting after that.

Key moment

Louisville was about to enter the half down 38-31 before Terrance Edwards Jr. was called for fouling Pedulla as the horn sounded. Pedulla made both free throws for a nine-point edge.

Key stat

Ole Miss started the game shooting 8 of 11 and then went 8 of 10 to start the second half.

Up next

Ole Miss hosts Lindenwood on Saturday night.

Louisville hosts No. 9 Duke on Sunday night to open Atlantic Coast Conference play.

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Gary B. Graves, The Associated Press