Ole Miss Defeats Tusculum 85-44 in Exhibition Game
OXFORD, Miss. — On Monday night, Ole Miss men’s basketball took to the court to open the Chris Beard era. In an exhibition contest against the Tusculum Pioneers, the Rebels won the game 85- 44. The exhibition game counts as practice number 22 out of the thirty that are allowed to a team per NCAA rules.
Ole Miss jumped out on top from the opening tip. A total of four Rebels scored in double figures: Jaemyn Brakefield (13), Matthew Murrell (19), Jamarion Sharp (10) and Allen Flanigan (12).
Coach Beard talked about the play of Flanigan coming off the bench.
“Glad he’s on our team,” Beard said of Flanigan. “Al has a chance to have a very special senior year in college basketball, taking advantage of this extra year. We need him to do so many things. Tonight, the positives are there, but we need him to play really really well on both ends of the floor. His effort was fine tonight, but execution, like all of us, we have to get better.”
Early in the opening minutes, Tusculum cut the game to one-point at 8 to 7 at the 15:27 mark, but the Rebels took a 43-25 advantage over Tusculum into the locker room at halftime.
In the first half, Ole Miss was led in scoring by Brakefield with 11 points. The Rebels went 15 of 28 from the floor in the first twenty minutes of action and hit a three-pointer by senior Matthew Murrell. Ole Miss got to the charity stripe 14 times and knocked down 12. On the boards, Ole Miss cleaned up the glass 19 times.
Tusculum did manage three three-pointers, but the Rebels defense made it difficult for the Pioneers on the night as Tusculum turned the ball over 24 times and only managed a 31.5% shooting percentage on 17-of-54 shooting from the floor.
“In some ways, we’re kind of on track,” Beard said about his team’s defense.
“Tonight, the two glaring things before watching the film was ball screen defense. Just has to get better, especially when the ball is in the middle of the floor. Looked like we were getting confused. So that’s on everyone, not just the players. The purpose of these games is to expose some things, and tonight, A+ on that because we got exposed on some things. Next is block out. We should be a good rebounding team, but too many times we don’t get a body on someone.“
Chris Beard on two areas his team needs work
Beard did point out some positives from what he saw.
“(Against Tusculum) we showed some good things. Our transition defense improved from our closed-door scrimmage. Tonight, was not perfect at all, but some improvement there,” Beard said. “That’s the great thing about these exhibition games as it exposes things, so we know what to work on in our next practice.”
Ole Miss finished the game at 50 percent from the floor (34-for-64), 15-for-21 from the free-throw line and out-rebounded Tusculum 39-21 on the glass. However, the Rebs were just 2-for-19 from beyond the arc.
“The basket closed up on us,” Beard said.
“That’s never a thing we talk about. We talk about shot selection a lot more than shot making. If you’re going to be a championship team, you have to figure out a way to win a game on a night whether the basket is big for you or small. From where I was sitting, we had a lot of good shots by the right shooter. A couple of them were forced late by our younger guys. We had open looks, but what you have to do is offensive rebound the ball better. I think we were only +3 or 4 at halftime and ended + 9 or 10. That’s not good enough.“
Chris Beard on the Rebels’ shooting
Beard was pleased with what he saw from true freshman Rashaud Marshall, who was second in off the bench. Marshall finished with eight points via 2-for-4 shooting and four free throws.
“He certainly has a chance to play as a freshman,” Beard said of Marshall.
“The first thing with him, his physicality allows him to have a role early in his career. He earned the right with his summer, preseason. Official practices to this point got him into the game early tonight, so that was my design. He did some good things, but there’s thing to clean up. We need him to rebound better. He’s a physical guy, but he needs to understand how to block out at this level. Good thing about him is that he wants to be coached… this will be a big learning curve for him tomorrow to get into the film room and look at that stuff.“
Coach Beard on true freshman Rashaud Marshall
Coach Beard was asked about the performance of big-man Jamarion Sharp who started in the front court. Sharp tallied his 10 points but also finished with six blocks and six rebounds.
“Sharp is a good player. The biggest thing for us in recruiting when we got to know him and evaluate him was that his height doesn’t define him,” Beard said.
“Obviously we all see the shot blocks and things that his length allows him to do, but he plays beyond those. Tonight, I thought he offensive rebounded the ball really well, moved the ball well. I’m really looking forward to coaching him.“
Coach Beard on Jamarion Sharp
The leading rebounder in the exhibition was TJ Caldwell who finished with 10 boards and six points.
“The thing with TJ is consistency,” Beard said.
“Tonight’s game was a great example of (needing consistency). At times, one of the best players on the floor and at times looked like a freshman. We have very high expectations for him. I believe he should be one of the better defenders in the SEC with his athleticism.”
Coach Beard on TJ Caldwell
It is also worth point out that neither Moussa Cisse nor Brandon Murray were able to play in the exhibition as they continue to await news from the NCAA on their waivers.
Next Up:
Ole Miss officially opens the 2023-24 season on November 6 as the Rebels welcome in Alabama State to the SJB Pavilion. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and can be streamed on SEC Network +.
(Feature image credit courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics)
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn's love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
