Gamer: Ole Miss men’s basketball defeats Detroit Mercy in a nail-biter, 70-69
OXFORD, Miss. – A nail-biter in the SJB-Pavilion played host to the Jaylen Murray show as the Ole Miss Rebels snuck away with the 70-69 win over the Detroit Mercy Titans.
3-0.#HottyToddy | #BuildTheCulture pic.twitter.com/KwavEg7vcv
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 15, 2023
“It’s definitely a player’s game and, obviously, we didn’t play our best game tonight and we’re fortunate to get a win against a really well-coached team.”
Chris Beard on the Rebels’ performance
First half
The Rebels won the opening tip, and right away Jaylen “JuJu” Murray fired one from deep to get Ole Miss on the board quickly. After two games, Ole Miss sits at the bottom of the SEC from the 3-point line, shooting 24%. The Rebels went 2/2 on the first two possessions, later followed by another three from the top of the key from TJ Caldwell.
3J Caldwell@TjCaldwell9 | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/CZ6RBj0eKr
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 15, 2023
Ole Miss held Detroit Mercy to zero points for the first 5 minutes of play. That was until the Titans went on a 10-5 run over the next five minutes as the Rebels only made 2 of their 7 shots during that stretch.
Detroit Mercy’s run continued as the Titans eventually brought it within one a little under the halfway mark in the half. The Rebels were on a 4-minute scoring drought at this point, missing 5 shots in a row. However, they still led, 15-14.
Matthew Murrell eventually ended the Rebels’ scoring drought, draining a contested three and getting to the line to give himself 9 points already. The senior was yet to miss a shot, starting the game 3/3.
As the first half began to wind down, Ole Miss began to catch fire from the field. The Rebels drained 5 of their last 8 shots, shooting a very much-improved 6 for 9 from the 3-point line on the night. Oh yeah, and if you didn’t already know, Jamarion Sharp is a very large guy.
Throw It Up‼️ 🥵@Jaammaarion | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/i8jK3zBZSV
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 15, 2023
At halftime, Ole Miss held on to a 34-31 lead over the Titans as Murrell led the way with 12 points with the help of Murray’s 8 points and 3 assists. The story for the Rebels was their 6 for 10 shooting night from three at the end of the half, which is ultimately what pushed them to a lead at the half.
Ole Miss could not stop two of the Titans’ players, Marcus Tankersley and Jayden Stone, as they combined for 26 of the team’s 31 points going into the half.
Second half
The Rebels gave up the lead rather quickly as the second half began as it was Tankersley and Stone, once again, who continued to be problems for Ole Miss defensively.
As the Detroit Mercy offense began to catch fire, so did JuJu Murray. The Saint Peter’s transfer increased his scoring total to 14, picking up 3 more assists along with that to give him 6 on the night. The Rebels and Titans began trading baskets back-and-forth as it was knotted at 47 with seven minutes into the half.
Juju blows by a Titan defender to reach double figures!@JSMurray10 | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/wDFHNHyMwI
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 15, 2023
Fouling became a problem for Ole Miss as the second half went on. After only 3 fouls committed in the first half, the Rebs gave out 10 fouls in the first 11 minutes of play after halftime.
Coach Beard commented postgame on his team’s second-half fouling issues.
“We just gotta do a better job demanding fouls. Victory’s gonna favor the most aggressive team, and tonight I don’t think we shot a free throw. The stat sheet says five or six, but I don’t remember any free throws until the end when Al (Flanigan) hit a couple. So that’s a problem…I thought we fouled way too much in the second half and that’s just things we gotta learn from…you feel the pressure that we gotta get this done tonight, but when that other team’s in a bonus, it makes it very difficult because you’re trying to play very hard. You want to be aggressive, but you can’t foul.”
Beard on the free throw differential
A story through the second half for the Rebels was the 3-pointer becoming irrelevant. Ole Miss was just 1 for 5 in the second half up until Murray drained another three to give him 21 points on the night, giving a spark to his team in the final 5 minutes of play.
He’s like that@JSMurray10 up to 21 in the game 🔥 pic.twitter.com/FU9t8MjfDv
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 15, 2023
With just under 3 minutes to go, the Rebels trailed 64-65. That was until Murrell hit his third deep ball of the night to give Ole Miss a late lead.
BANG‼️@matt_murre11 | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/5UzZ0gM0w2
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 15, 2023
Eventually with Ole Miss trailing by one, yet again, with 25 seconds to go, Allen Flanigan found himself at the charity stripe with a chance to give the Rebels a lead and put them just one defensive stop away from victory. Big Al did just that, draining both foul shots which allowed TJ Caldwell and Rob Cowherd to come up with a huge stop at the buzzer on the other end to secure the 70-69 win.
“I just feel like Rob (Cowherd) made a good play. He stayed aggressive. Coach always tells us the most aggressive team will win. And I feel like when Rob came over there, he made the aggressive play.”
JuJu on Cowherd’s help defense at the buzzer
JuJu Murray led the way for the Rebels with an ‘unconscious’ shooting night. The guard went 9-14 from the field, ending with 22 points, 7 assists and a pair of steals.
Murrell’s late heroics helped Ole Miss prevail as well; the senior finished with 17 points and 6 assists. Jamarion Sharp also shined, falling just short of a double-double with 8 points, 10 boards and a pair of blocks.
Takeaways
- Improved 3-point shooting
- Rebels had few trips to the line, and committed a lot of fouls
- Out-rebounded again, despite a really good rebounding night on the offensive end
- JuJu Murray showed amazing shot creation and playmaking ability
- Defense looked solid at times, Titans often made TOUGH shots
- Showed an ability to stay calm and secure a last-second win
Up Next
The Rebels will be back in action this Friday at 8 pm. Ole Miss will be returning to its original home in the Tad-Smith Coliseum for a ‘throwback’ Tad-Pad game against Sam Houston State.
Kameron Wicker
Kam is an undergraduate at Ole Miss, currently pursuing a degree in Journalism. Even though he’s from Delhi, Louisiana, that didn’t stop Kam from growing up a diehard Ole Miss fan. He’s a sports guru who watches and follows all sports at all times. He lettered four years in football and baseball in high school and is an avid Saints, Pelicans, and Astros fan. In his free time, you can find him watching sports or at the rec participating in them.
