OXFORD, Miss — With a nine-point lead and momentum with just under 4 minutes left, UMass appeared to be headed for a memorable victory.
Instead the Minutemen left Ole Miss stunned. The Rebels scored the last 11 points of the game and beat the Minutemen 90-88 on Monday at the Pavillion at Ole Miss.
Leading 88-86, Zach Lewis got a good look at a 3-pointer from the corner, but it didn’t even hit the rim. The Rebels attacked, and Deandre Burnett raced in for a layup that tied the game 88-88 with 1:08 left.
DeJon Jarreau got his first crack at being a hero but missed a 3-pointer from the right wing, and the Rebels’ Rasheed Brooks corralled the rebound.
Luwane Pipkins got his shot at heroism when he stripped Brooks but fumbled the ball away with 32 seconds left.
Ole Miss held for the last shot with Deandre Burnett driving to the basket. He missed, but Sebastian Saiz tipped in the rebound with 3.3 seconds left.
UMass called time out to try to draw up a miracle, but Jarreau slipped and had to settled for a halfcourt heave that was well off.
“We just needed a couple of good stops or to make a couple of the wide open 3s down the stretch,” UMass coach Derek Kellogg said. “We haven’t been in that situation with that group, obviously. Hopefully we can learn from it.”
The Minutemen host Temple on Thursday at 8 p.m.
“It was all mental. We’re supposed to close the game out. We have to learn from it,” said Pipkins, who was replaying his missed opportunity. “I should have finished it, or I should have brought it back out. I didn’t. That’s on me.”
It looked like the game might get away from the Minutemen in the first half. Rashaan Holloway and Pipkins, UMass’ best two players in Friday’s win, and Donte Clark, last year’s leading scorer, were all on the bench in foul trouble, and the Rebels had momentum leading 29-19 with 7:24 left in the half.
Kellogg has always worried his players will try to do too much in front of friends and family, and Jarreau had a small contingent from New Orleans who drove up to the game. But the freshman knocked down a 3-pointer on the right wing, and the Minuteman bench came to life.
After Ole Miss got its lead back to 10 at 34-24 with 6:32 left, UMass closed the half on a 24-6 surge. Jarreau had seven in the run, while Lewis had 11 including three 3-pointers in that stretch.
“That’s how we have to play the whole game,” Jarreau said.
Ole Miss came out of the half strong and took a 53-51 lead with 16:51 left, but the Minutemen answered and led for most of the half.
Jarreau led the Minutemen with 25 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Zach Lewis added 20 and Luwane Pipkins had 18 for UMass as 65 of their 88 points were scored by players who weren’t on the team last year.
Saiz had 22 points and 19 rebounds for Ole Miss (2-0).
NOTES – Zach Coleman, who was held out for the first game for undisclosed reasons, started and played 22 minutes in place of Seth Berger, who suffered a wrist injury in Friday’s win over UMass-Lowell. Kellogg said Berger will be evaluated when UMass gets back home.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage