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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Jeremiah Rivers sliced from right to left and made a miraculous up-and-under basket. The shot got Indiana within eight points of Mississippi with just under six minutes left in their opening-round Puerto Rico Tip-off Classic game.
But Rebels forward Murphy Holloway was too tough down the stretch, leading Ole Miss to an 89-71 victory Thursday.
Holloway scored 26 points and grabbed nine rebounds, handing the Hoosiers their first loss of the season.
“We made too many mistakes to win the game,” IU coach Tom Crean said in postgame transcripts posted on the school’s Web site. “They were more physical and we didn’t do a great job of playing through that. But at the same time we did make some really good plays and stayed aggressive. We had 53 deflections and 24 offensive rebounds. We got to the foul line, but didn’t take advantage of it (going 12 for 27).”
IU will play Boston University in a consolation round game at 6 p.m. today. Kansas State defeated the Terriers 80-70.
IU trailed by 15 after a three-pointer by Chris Warren with 7:55 to go. The Hoosiers then went on a 9-2 run, capped by Rivers’ circus shot, to make the score 69-61.
The Rebels outscored Indiana 20-10 the rest of the way. Holloway had 10 points in the final 4:34.
Warren scored 16 points and Eniel Polynice had 10 and seven assists for the Rebels, who shot 50 percent (35 for 70). Ole Miss (3-0) blocked 12 shots to Indiana’s two.
Maurice Creek scored a career-high 18 points to pace IU. Verdell Jones III had 17. Rivers scored 14 but committed six of Indiana’s 21 turnovers. The Hoosiers (2-1) had 13 assists.
“We got out to a quick start, but these guys play at a high level and a lot of our team is seeing this for the first time,” Rivers said. “I’ve been fortunate to play against some great competition at Georgetown, but I am proud of the way we kept fighting. The nice thing is we come out (today).”
