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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -- Mississippi coach Rod Barnes decided to
leave his best player on the bench to start the game and to give
Vanderbilt's star some room to operate throughout.
Both moves worked.
Marcus Hicks scored 19 points and Mississippi survived Dan
Langhi's 33-point performance to beat the Commodores (No. 22 ESPN/USA Today, No. 24 AP) 75-67 on Saturday.
Hicks, the Rebels' leading scorer, was benched for the first 3½
minutes of the game because of lethargic performances during Ole
Miss' four-game losing streak.
"I sat our seniors down because we took a beating here when we
lost to LSU," said Barnes, referring to a 44-point loss to
Louisiana State in the Rebels' last home game Feb. 16. "You've got
to protect homecourt. I didn't like what happened. Their
responsible."
Barnes also sat his other senior starter, forward Lataryl
Williams, for the first six minutes.
Both seniors responded, especially Hicks. In his first non-start
in Southeastern Conference play this season, Hicks played inspired
at both ends of the floor. He made 7-of-13 shots, blocked two shots
and said he wasn't upset by the benching.
"I feel like I haven't been playing up to my potential," Hicks
said. "I'll do anything to help the team win."
Langhi tied a career high with 33 points, the most by any player
in an SEC game this season. But he was left to carry Vanderbilt
(17-8, 7-7 SEC) virtually by himself with Ole Miss (16-11, 4-10)
concentrating its defense on the Commodores' supporting cast.
"Dan Langhi is the best player in this league," said Barnes,
who touted Langhi as SEC player of the year. "He's going to get
his points. We had to do a great job on their other kids. We didn't
come in to even try stop Langhi. We tried to slow him down. I don't
know how slow we got him."
"I'd rather win games than get player of the year," Langhi
said. "It's frustrating not to come out and win games when you
should win them."
Langhi had 20 of the Commodores' 36 second-half points,
including five of their nine field goals.
"I'd be hard pressed to find someone in our league who has had
a better year than Dan Langhi, especially considering the
circumstances," Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. "You kind
of look at our roster and say 'If we stop him,' and he gets 33
points and 10 rebounds when you need to stop him."
Langhi, the SEC's leading scorer, was 9-of-18 from the floor and
10-of-12 from the line.
It was Vanderbilt's fourth loss in five games, making the NCAA
tournament bid that seemed to be a lock for the Commodores a bit
unsure heading into the final two regular season games.
"I still think that we have a lot of basketball to play,"
Stallings said. "I think if we win these two this week it's a
no-brainer."
The Commodores finish the season with home games against Georgia
and South Carolina.
Vanderbilt had a 10:17 stretch in the second half without
hitting a basket before Sam Howard made a jumper with 4:04 left to
make the score 62-52 Ole Miss. Howard scored 11 points and no other
Vandy player reached double digits.
Williams had 12 points for the Rebels and Jason Flanigan scored
14.
Holding a two-point lead, Ole Miss used a 16-6 run to make the
score 64-50 with less than four minutes left.
Vanderbilt went on an 8-0 run, highlighted by two 3-pointers by
Howard, to cut the lead to 64-60 with 2:03 left, but could get no
closer as Ole Miss sealed the win at the line.
Vanderbilt has lost seven straight in Oxford.
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Vanderbilt Clubhouse
Mississippi Clubhouse
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