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Warren leads No. 22 Ole Miss to 73-63 win over LSU

Jan 23, 2010 - 9:45 PM BATON ROUGE, La.(AP) -- For more than 30 minutes, Chris Warren didn't manage a point.

Not even a free throw.

Mississippi's leading scorer finally came alive down the stretch, scoring 14 the rest of the way to lift the No. 22 Rebels to a 73-63 victory on Saturday.

"Chris has had a deep thigh bruise," Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy said. "The swelling settled just above his knee. He was really sluggish early. He had trouble getting separation."

Warren, who missed his first five shots, put the Rebels in front at 56-54 on a 3-pointer with 8:45 left in the game. After a field goal tied the score for LSU, Warren knocked down a second straight 3-pointer to give Ole Miss some breathing room.

Warren made another basket to give the Rebels a 68-60 advantage, and he made five more free throws down the stretch to put the game away.

"It's a regular thigh bruise," Warren said of his injury. "It was a little more painful today. If I keep it loose, I'm all right. I didn't feel slow in the first half, but some of my teammates told me I looked stiff. I felt the same in the second half.

"It was probably a mental thing."

Terrance Henry and Eniel Polynice also had 14 points for Ole Miss (15-4, 3-2), whose reserves contributed 28 points and 16 rebounds. Buckner, Trevor Gaskins and Zach Graham each had eight points, while Buckner grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

"We stayed in the game in the first half with a lot of guys off of our bench," Kennedy said. "I knew the second half was going to be a grind."

Bo Spencer led LSU (9-10, 0-5) with 22 points. Tasmin Mitchell had added 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Storm Warren finished with 11 points.

"This is frustration," LSU coach Trent Johnson said. "We have to find a way to win a game. I don't care who, where or when we play. We have to find a way to win the game."

The first half consisted mainly of runs by both teams. Ole Miss scored the last eight points to take a 38-32 lead. A basket by Polynice tied the score before the Rebels took their six-point advantage on 3-pointers by Gaskins and Henry.

The first half consisted of runs by both teams. Ole Miss scored the last eight points to take a 38-32 lead, and a basket by Polynice tied the score before the Rebels took a six-point advantage on 3-pointers by Trevor Gaskins and Henry.

Trailing by two 8 minutes into the game, LSU outscored Ole Miss 9-1. Storm Warren sank three foul shots, and Mitchell's field goal capped the run to put LSU on top 19-13.

The Rebels answered with nine consecutive points. Henry started the outburst with a 3-pointer, and a field goal by Polynice at the 7:24 mark gave Ole Miss a 22-19 lead.

Spencer and Mitchell then combined to score 10 consecutive points. Spencer scored the first seven on a 3-pointer, a field goal and two free throws, and Mitchell's three-point play left the Tigers ahead 29-22 with 4:51 remaining in the half.

The Rebels went on the last outburst of the half, but it took LSU less than 5 minutes after halftime to tie the score. Two foul shots by Mitchell with 15:15 remaining made it 42-42, and a couple minutes later the Tigers went ahead 45-44 on a three-point play by Eddie Ludwig.

LSU took a 50-46 lead on a 3-pointer by walk-on Chris Beattie. The Rebels came back to tie the score on field goals by Buckner and Zach Graham, and a three-point play by Gaskins sent Ole Miss on top 53-50 with 9:43 remaining.