Sam Muldrow had 23 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:02 left, as South Carolina snapped a five-game losing streak with a 79-73 victory over Mississippi on Tuesday night.
Muldrow's points tied his career high and he added 10 rebounds to help the Gamecocks (14-12, 5-8 Southeastern Conference) build a 69-55 lead with 6 minutes left.
That's when the Rebels (17-11, 5-8) went on an 18-4 run, tying the game at 73 on Zach Graham's layup with 1:21 to go.
Muldrow answered back for South Carolina, striking for his third 3-pointer of the game.
Graham missed a tying 3-pointer on Ole Miss' next trip and the Gamecocks closed out their first home victory since Jan. 19 with three free throws.
Mississippi's Chris Warren had a career-high 33 points off eight 3-pointers, also the best showing of the senior's career.
South Carolina shot 20 of 22 foul shots and outrebounded Ole Miss 42-38.
It was hard to determine the bigger surprise - that South Carolina built such a large lead after its poor play of recent weeks or how quickly it disappeared down the stretch.
South Carolina came in off a horrible, month-long run, losing seven of its past eight. It managed nine first-half points its last game here, a loss to Georgia. In the Gamecocks' last game at Kentucky, they fell 90-59 - a contest that wasn't that close.
But behind Muldrow's dominance inside and outside, South Carolina grabbed its first halftime lead in six games. Muldrow hit a 3-pointer and a bucket to put the Gamecocks up 69-55 over the confused Rebels.
With Warren on the court, though, Ole Miss is rarely out of it. The SEC's No. 2 scorer led the rally with a three-point play and his eighth 3-pointer.
Muldrow, though, was the senior with the final response that Warren couldn't match. It was Muldrow's sixth game with double-figure points and rebounds.
This one didn't start so well for the Gamecocks, either. Warren, second in SEC scoring average this year, had four 3-pointers the first 9 minutes as Ole Miss led 21-13.
Then the Rebels went cold and the Gamecocks played like they hadn't in some time with a 16-2 run to move in front. Muldrow hit a 3-pointer to start the run and Brian Richardson kept it going with another 3. When Ramon Galloway followed a short jumper with three foul shots, the Gamecocks were ahead 29-23.
South Carolina ended the half up 38-34, the first time since a 64-56 win over LSU on Feb. 2 that it held the lead at the break.
Ramon Galloway had 15 points for the Gamecocks while Malik Cooke added 13 and Damontre Harris 11.
