A power failure delayed the start of Friday's Memphis-Ole Miss game for a little more than an hour. Once the game tipped off, the Rebels surged and the Tigers appeared lost in the dark at FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn.

The result was an 85-79 Ole Miss victory. But what looked like a runaway for the first 34 minutes turned into a nail-biter as Memphis made a late run and sliced a 16-point second-half deficit to five with under two minutes remaining.

Guard Stephan Moody led Ole Miss with 21 points and four other Rebels scored in double figures.

Guard Ricky Tarrant Jr. led the Tigers with 29 points and freshman forward Dedric Lawson continued to put up spectacular numbers with 21 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots.

Memphis never led in the game and, true to form, struggled on offense early for the fifth straight game. Only this time, the hole was too deep to climb out of, even though there were some nervous moments late on the Ole Miss bench.

Moody's basket with 39 seconds left squelched the Tigers' rally and gave the Rebels a bit of breathing room at 82-75.

Both teams were riding a five-game winning streak. Ole Miss now stands at 9-2 and Memphis fell to 7-3.

Memphis took a 43-31 lead into the halftime. Moody, with 16 points, led the Rebels. Tarrant paced the Tigers with 13 points.

Memphis was able to slice the lead to single digits throughout the second half and o hang around thanks to superior free-throw shooting.

For the game, Memphis made only 23 of 38 foul shots and Ole Miss was 26 of 37.