OXFORD, Miss. – The Nicholls State University men's basketball team dropped a 75-55 decision to Ole Miss Tuesday at the Pavilion in its fifth consecutive road game.

"The way that they pressure – they take away easy catches early in the possession. That makes it hard," Nicholls head coach Austin Claunch said. "You don't see a lot of teams around the country that not only try to do that, but there are not a lot of teams that have the ability to do that. Their guards do a great job of pressuring and their bigs are active. We weren't really able to get easy ones to get us into a flow so you have to credit them with that. I thought we had some stretches - especially in the second half - where we battled and guarded really well."

Two Nicholls turnovers resulted in an early 7-0 Ole Miss run, bringing the score to 9-2 and forcing a timeout from Claunch. The Colonels (2-4) responded with a backdoor cut from sophomore Kevin Johnson for a layup. Johnson then found junior Elvis Harvey for a three to cut the deficit to two at 11-9.

Nicholls had two scoring droughts last four-plus minutes as the Rebels (2-1) closed the half on a 9-0 run, ballooning the lead to 15. The Colonels missed their final 11 field goal attempts of the period.

The offensive highlight of the second half was at the 11:35 mark when a triple by graduate transfer Jeremiah Jefferson ignited a seven-point spurt. The Red and Gray then went into an offensive lull that lasted 2:18, allowing the Rebels to rebuild a comfortable margin at 61-42.

Nicholls was only outscored 38-33 in the second half, taking 13 more shots but only connecting on one extra. There was a 23-6 disparity in total free throw attempts in favor of the Rebels.

 The Colonels were fronted offensively by graduate transfer Gavin Peppers, who tied Terence Davis with a game-high 14 points. Peppers tallied all of his points in the second half after a frustrating first half that consisted of three turnovers.

Other double-figure scorers for Ole Miss included Bruce Stevens (13) and Breein Tyree (10). Nicholls forced 16 turnovers and held a 9-4 steals advantage.

The Colonels return to action Friday in the Emerald Coast Classic, facing North Carolina Central in Destin, Florida, at 1:30 p.m. Nicholls then battles either Southern or Western Michigan on Saturday, concluding a seven-game stretch away from Stopher Gym.

Get your season or single game tickets now by calling 985-448-4790 or visiting nichollstickets.com. To stay up to date with Nicholls men's basketball, follow the team on Twitter @Nicholls_MBB.