It was deja vu for Ole Miss Wednesday night in Gainesville, Fla.

The Rebels hung with Florida. Then the Gators went on a run. Ole Miss couldn’t answer.

The result: Another hard-fought Southeastern Conference loss for Kermit Davis’ team as Florida prevailed, 79-64.

Ole Miss trailed by just one, 28-27, after Matthew Murrell’s 3-pointer with 3:52 left before halftime. Florida finished the half on an 11-2 run to take a 39-29 lead into intermission.

Ole Miss pulled to within two, 41-39, on Amaree Abram’s layup with 17:11 to go. However, Florida pulled away, slowly building a lead that reached 18 points on its way to a critical win for the Gators’ NCAA Tournament chances.

Florida (14-12 overall, 7-6 in the SEC) entered Wednesday’s game with a NET ranking of 52, desperately needing to start a winning streak. The Gators travel to Arkansas Saturday, return home to face Kentucky Feb. 22 and then finish the regular season with trips to Vanderbilt and Georgia and a home finale versus LSU.

Ole Miss (10-16, 2-11), meanwhile, is just playing out the string. The Rebels return home Saturday to face in-state rival Mississippi State. The red-hot Bulldogs had a NET ranking of 40 entering Wednesday night’s home game against Kentucky. Tipoff at the Sandy and John Black Pavilion is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

Murrell led Ole Miss with 15 points and five rebounds. Jaemyn Brakefield finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.

Myreon Jones led Florida with 15 points. Will Richard and Kowacie Reeves added 13 points each. Riley Kugel added 12 points and Kyle Lofton had 10.

Florida lost center Colin Castleton to a hand injury in the second half. He had just three points and three rebounds before leaving. He did not return and Florida coach Todd Golden said initial reports were not positive.

Ole Miss once again struggled shooting, making 40 percent of its shots from the floor and 25 percent (3-for-12) from the 3-point line. Florida made 59 percent of its shots from the floor and 10 of its 17 shots from behind the arc.

Ole Miss out-rebounded the Gators, 38-30, and won several other categories, including points off turnovers (12-8), fast-break points (11-5) and second-chance points (13-2).

Florida, however, dominated bench points (26-11), steals (8-4) and assists (15-6).