Brakefield, Ole Miss fight hard in SEC-opening loss to Tennessee

OXFORD, Miss. — After a week-long holiday break, Ole Miss had a chance to make a statement with its SEC opener. No. 7 Tennessee came to Oxford presenting the Rebels with a quadrant-one opponent that could have helped redefine the season to date.

However, as the old Frank Robinson saying goes, “Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.” Tennessee defeated Ole Miss, 63-59, but the Rebels never once backed away.

Game Recap

Ole Miss started off the game with a big first half. Amaree Abram scored ten first-half points as Ole Miss would lead 34-28 at halftime. The freshman appeared to be playing with the same confidence he had in Orlando, scoring both at the rim and from the perimeter. The offense was in flow and a couple of big defensive stretches gave Tennessee fits.

It seemed as if everything was going Ole Miss way. The Vols were able to capitalize on some free throws to keep things close at half. The Rebel lead was as high as ten. As a team, Kermit Davis’ unit finished the first half shooting 46.5% and making four triples.

Unfortunately, it was a tale of two halves and the Vols would come roaring back in the second half. 

The intensity of the game grew, and Ole Miss did its best to stay ahead. 

After a bit of back-and-forth action, a 7-0 run by the Vols gave Tennessee a 48-43 lead with 9:12 remaining. The duo of Zakai Ziegler and Santiago Vescovi found a way to capitalize combining for 22 points in the second half.

Tennessee began to extend its lead but Ole Miss wouldn’t go down quietly. 

Jaemyn Brakefield had himself quite the day, but his three triples in the second half were a large reason why Ole Miss stayed in this one. 

Down three later in the second half, Matthew Murrell hit a pair of three-point opportunities to tie the contest — one of which was a beautifully executed baselines out of bounds play. 

Ole Miss held Tennessee without a field goal for the game’s final 2:57. Daeshun Ruffin would hit a huge three to get the deficit down as low as two.

The Rebels now sit at 8-5 on the season. The group finished the game shooting 37.3% with eight total three pointers. 

Jaemyn Brakefield led the way with 18 points on 5-9 shooting while going 4-4 from deep. Amaree Abram added 10 (all in the first half) and Daeshun Ruffin added 9 to help round out the Ole Miss leaders.

Tennessee was led by Santiago Vescovi who finished with 22 points. The Vols followed their 37.5% shooting in the first half with a 48.5% outburst in the second. The rebounding battle went to Tennessee, 38-28. Zakai Ziegler would finish with 13 points. Tennessee now is 11-2 overall for the year.

Three Takeaways

1. Fouls, Free Throws lead to Frustration

Ole Miss’ defense did enough to make this game winnable. In the first half, the Vols only had one made field goal attempt in the final six minutes and thirty seconds. In the second half, they had one in the final four minutes. 

However, during both those spells, Tennessee got 10 free throws. It can be frustrating to watch but some early fouls led to free points for Tennessee helping mount their comeback while stopping Ole Miss’.

The fouls affected the Ole Miss game plan as Jaemyn Brakefield, Daeshun Ruffin, and TJ Caldwell (who started) all were limited in the first half after picking up two early fouls. On top of that, Myles Burns had four fouls and Matthew Murrell ended up fouling out. 

In a game where Ole Miss did so much right, the margin for error was still minimalized by fouls and free throws to relieve Tennessee.

2. Jaemyn “Brake(out)field”

Despite drawing two quick fouls, Jaemyn Brakefield was largely effective. Brakefield did have four turnovers, but for this we focus on his 18 points, four rebounds and the ways we saw him play the game. 

With Ole Miss needing offensive firepower, Brakefield provided with a 116.9 offensive rating.

It felt like this was a different Brakefield in the way we saw him get his opportunities. Brakefield seemed to operate early out of the mid-post/short corner where he could sense whether a double team was coming or not and attack off of that. 

One early opportunity saw Brakefield make a quick move on a bigger opponent across the lane for a bucket. Another saw him with a quick faceup and attack for another smooth bucket. An isolation on the right wing allowed for him to attack a slow-footed defender. The isolation opportunities allowed him to play within himself and it was the best version of Brakefield to date. His confidence shooting was noticeable as well. He was a threat in the pick-n-pop situation.

If Kermit Davis and the offense can continue to get him opportunities like this to attack, Ole Miss could find another consistent offensive piece. It also allowed for an inside piece to help take the pressure off the outside.

3. Inside-Out Scoring

We touched on it in the last section, but Ole Miss has struggled to score in a traditional post sense. In year’s past, Ole Miss has developed a presence as the year went on. 

This year, there is a post-by-committee approach compared to a star big man. Against the Vols, we saw a little bit more of that interior presence. On top of Brakefield’s approach, both Jayveous McKinnis and Theo Akwuba showed flashes.

McKinnis had a nice spin in the mid-post (paint area) off of a faceup resulting in a nice layup. Akwuba had a hook in the first half. If Ole Miss can find a way to continue getting some post looks, it’ll open up a lot more on the outside for Murrell, Ruffin, Abram, and others helping with some of the offensive inefficiencies. Progress will need to be made quickly though.

Next Up

Next up for Ole Miss is another Q1 opportunity in Tuscaloosa against Alabama next Tuesday. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 8 PM CT and be broadcasted on SEC Network.

(Feature image credit: Josh McCoy, Ole Miss)