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Ole Miss stays unbeaten, earns San Juan Shootout crown

Dec 23, 2007 - 3:19 AM GUAYNABO, Puerto Rico (Ticker) -- Dwayne Curtis and Chris Warren made key free throws down the stretch to help Mississippi remain undefeated with Saturday's 85-82 victory over No. 15 Clemson in the San Juan Shootout.

Curtis and Warren each scored 19 points for the Rebels, who have won 11 straight games to match the school's best start to a season since 2000-01.

"I'm really proud of our team because we still have not gotten what we can out of a lot of guys on our team," Rebels coach Andy Kennedy said. "We had issues all across the board, yet we stepped up and made the plays to beat a very good basketball team, and we're one of 10 teams that is still undefeated."

With the game tied at 80-80 in the second half, Curtis hit two free throws with 1 1/2 minutes remaining and the freshman Warren also buried a pair to give Mississippi (11-0) a four-point edge with 25 seconds to go.

"What big shots Chris Warren stepped up and made for this team," Kennedy said. "He steps up and makes huge plays as a true freshman. We're going to have four fun years with him. He's going to make me a lot better coach, I'll tell you that."

Clemson's Terrence Oglesby had an opportunity to give his team the lead in between Curtis and Warren's free throws, but the 6-2 freshman misfired on a 3-pointer with 55 seconds left.

After bolting out to a 51-40 lead just seconds into the half, the Tigers (10-1) clawed their way back behind an impressive 18-5 run that was capped by Trevor Booker's dunk with just over 12 minutes to go for a 58-55 bulge.

Curtis was almost unstoppable through the opening half, scoring 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting in helping Mississippi create a 48-40 advantage at intermission.

Oglesby finished with 20 points and K.C. Rivers added 19 for the Tigers, who fell just one win shy from going 11-0 for the third consecutive campaign.