JuJu Murray, No. 23 Ole Miss hand BYU first loss in overtime

PROVO — Richie Saunders started hot in BYU's first road test at LionTree Arena in La Jolla, California.

But Ole Miss' Jaylen "JuJu" Murray ended on a heater.

Murray scored a career-high 28 points with five rebounds and five assists, and the No. 23-ranked Rebels outscored BYU 19-8 in overtime to hand the Cougars their first loss of the season, 96-85 Wednesday afternoon in the Rady Children's Invitational.

Saunders totaled 16 points, five rebounds and two steals for BYU, and five-star freshman Egor Demin scored 13 of his 16 points after halftime to go along with four assists.

Kanon Catchings led BYU (5-1) with 17 points, including five 3-pointers.

Fousseyni Traore supplied 16 points, six rebounds and three assists off the bench for the Cougars.

Dre Davis added 18 points and six rebounds for the Rebels (6-0), and Matthew Murrell had 18 points and two steals for Ole Miss, which forced 17 turnovers and turned them into 23 points on the other end.

"We haven't really been a turnover team this year, but the first time we faced a physical defense we turned it over 17 times," BYU coach Kevin Young told BYU Radio, crediting the "experience" of playing a more physical and more athletic team for the first time in his tenure as the Cougars' head coach.

Saunders gave the Cougars a 77-75 lead from the free-throw line with 38 seconds remaining. But Murray answered right back with an off-balance lay-in to tie the game again 13 seconds later to force the Cougars' first overtime since a 79-75 win over Dayton on Nov. 25, 2022.

Murray scored first in the extra period, and the Rebels used a 6-3 spurt in the extra session to take control for good.

Still, the Cougars punched first.

Saunders paced a 6-0 run midway through the first half to lift the Cougars to a 20-14 lead as the Wasatch Academy product connected on his first four shots from the field for 11 points with three rebounds.

The 6-foot-5 junior drained a 3-pointer and added four rebounds and a steal in eight minutes to help the Cougars to the early advantage in BYU's first game starting point guard Dallin Hall and forward Keba Keita together.

Catchings connected on his first four 3-point attempts in the first half as BYU shot 12-of-27 from the field and 7-of-18 from deep with five assists to lead by as much as 10.

But Murray scored 10 points before the break, and Ole Miss scored 18 points off BYU's 10 turnovers. The Rebels briefly tied the game twice in the final two minutes of the half, but Mihailo Boskovic lifted the Cougars to a 42-39 halftime edge with one of two first-half triples.

Sean Pedulla tied the game after being fouled on a 3-point attempt just 12 seconds into the half, and the Rebels used an 8-2 start to the second half to retake their first lead since the early minutes of the game.

BYU connected on just three of its first 10 field goal attempts to open the half, struggling with Ole Miss' physicality. Traore ended a field-goal drought of nearly five minutes to open the half, but the Cougars struggled to find offensive consistency.

"That's their identity; that's how they play," Young said of Ole Miss' turnover-forcing style. "I thought we fell into the trap early on, which was disappointing."

Demin cut the deficit to three, 66-63 with just over six minutes to go, and Traore tied the game at 69-all with 3:24 remaining and Demin and Trevin Knell followed with back-to-back treys as the two teams were tied into the final minute of regulation to set the stage for overtime.

"If anything," Young said, "we sort of got away from who we are in that early part of the second half."

The Cougars will face North Carolina State in the third-place game of the Rady Children's Invitational. Tipoff from San Diego is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. MST on FOX.

Ole Miss will face No. 13 Purdue in the championship game of the tournament immediately following.

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