Texas A&M lost to Ole Miss 75-71 in a thriller Wednesday night in Oxford. The Aggies dropped their third straight, falling to 8-13 and 1-8 in SEC play.
After leading by 13 early in the first half, Ole Miss found themselves in a tight game after junior guard Brandon Mahan went 3-3 from beyond the arc to make it a 37-36 game at the half.
A&M and Ole Miss would have an efficient first half shooting 52 percent and 53 percent from the floor, respectively.
The Aggies took the lead for the first time early in the second half with 3 straight 3 pointers from Mahan, making it a 45-40 lead by 17:31 mark. After a back-and-forth battle with Ole Miss, A&M hit another scoring run to make it a 9 point game with 12:46 to go in the game.
After a series of turnovers by the Aggies, Ole Miss would crawl back late in the second half with 6 free throws to make it a 69-64 game with 31 seconds left. Despite a desperate attempt to foul and send the Rebels to the free throw line, the Aggies were unable to recover and close out the game.
A&M had two players break the 20 point mark with junior guard Wendell Mitchell ending the game with 23 points. Mahan would come off the bench and go 6-of-7 from three-point range and finish with 20 points. Mahan has hit 10 of his last 11 3 point attempts in the past two games. Junior forward Josh Nebo also came off the bench with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks.
Ole Miss broke their 4-game losing streak with junior guard Breein Tyree leading the way with 22 points. The Rebels ended the game shooting 41 percent from the field.
A&M continues their road trip with a visit to Missouri on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 5 p.m.