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All season long college basketball fans and analysts have complained about the lack of scoring, flow and excitement in the game and the need for rules changes to enhance offense..
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BYU and Ole Miss provided a glimpse of what some would like the game to be Tuesday night in a First Four matchup in the NCAA tournament in combining for 184 points in a game Ole Miss won 94-90 in regulation time.
Of course, the high scoring affair had more to do with both teams’ defensive deficiencies than genius offense. Those defensive problems were the primary reason why the Cougars and Rebels found themselves playing in the First Four in the first place.
The first half showed why many were skeptical the Rebels would even receive an at-large bid when they allowed the Cougars to score 49 points and make 10 of 15 3-pointers. The second half showed how dangerous the Rebels can be when they’re hitting shots and feeling good about themselves offensively.
The Rebels overcame BYU’s 17-point halftime lead with a blistering 62-point second half to advance to play No. 6 seed Xavier, a battled tested team from the Big East.
BYU's collapse came three years after it pulled off a 25-point comeback to beat Iona in a First Four game in the 2012 tournament.
The loss ended the stellar college career of BYU senior Tyler Haws, who became one of the top-20 scorers in NCAA history in the game. He scored 33 points, the fifth 30-point game of his season. But it wasn't enough to overcome Ole Miss junior Stefan Moody's 26 points, the majority of which came in the second half. Moody went 5-for-9 from behind the 3-point line.
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BYU seemed to be cruising to an easy victory when the second half began, but at the second media timeout with slightly less than 12 minutes remaining, Ole Miss and trimmed the lead to seven and completely flipped the momentum with a series of dunks that seemed to ignite the Rebels. At the 7:11 mark when another television timeout arrived, Ole Miss held a four-point advantage and BYU had given up 40 points in less than 13 minutes.
BYU is the nation's second highest scoring team this season and had been able to overcome its defensive shortcomings much of the year because of its offensive prowess. But it's easier to do that in the West Coast Conference than it is in the NCAA tournament.
All five Ole Miss starters scored in double figures and Ladarius White came off the bench to score 10 as well. It was quite a turnaround performance for coach Andy Kennedy's team not only from half to half but also from the end of the season when the Rebels lost four out of five to fall onto the bubble and barely squeak into the field.
Now we;ll see if they can build on it with an upset of the Musketeers or if Tuesday's result was simply a product of two bad defensive teams playing and somebody having to win.
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[Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at kyle.ringo@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo
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