Mississippi 66, Cincinnati 54: Stefan Moody scored a season-high 26 points and the Rebels’ zone defense stymied the Bearcats in the Emerald Coast Classic championship game in Niceville, Fla.

Ladarius White added nine points and Jarvis Summers had eight for Ole Miss (5-1), which has won five straight games since a season-opening overtime loss to Charleston Southern. Moody, a former Florida Atlantic standout who brought a 10.4 season scoring average and 33.3 shooting percentage into the contest, hit 9-of-17 shots, including 3-of-7 3-pointers, and 5-of-6 free throws to earn tournament MVP honors and offset a quiet night from Summers, the team’s leading scorer, who dished out a game-high five assists.

Octavius Ellis (13 points), Gary Clark (12) and Deshaun Morman (11) scored in double digits for Cincinnati (5-1), which had allowed an average of 49.6 points over its first five contests. The Bearcats, who matched their season high by scoring 69 points in their 18-point semifinal win over Middle Tennessee on Friday, shot a season-low 30.4 percent from the floor, including 2-of-19 from 3-point range.

The Rebels took a 30-25 lead into the second half, and Moody scored eight immediate points on a pair of treys and a layup to push the lead to double digits. Cincinnati was only able to get as close as 11 the rest of the way, with the Rebels’ biggest lead coming at 56-35 with a little less than eight minutes remaining.

Ole Miss took its first lead at 10-9 on White’s 3-pointer with the little more than 14 minutes to play in the first half. The Bearcats struggled against the Rebels’ 2-3 zone for the much of the first half, shooting only 11-of-33 from the floor and 1-of-9 from 3-point range, but remained close with a 12-6 advantage on the offensive glass.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Ole Miss is 18-6 in regular-season tournaments in coach Andy Kennedy’s nine seasons, including two other championships in the 2013 Barclays Center Classic and the 2007 San Juan Shootout. … Paced by Clark's game-high 12 rebounds, Cincinnati finished with a 43-31 advantage on the glass and is 5-0-1 in the rebounding battle this season. … Kennedy was an assistant at Cincinnati for four years before serving the 2005-06 season as the Bears’ interim coach prior to taking over at Mississippi.