Gamer: Ole Miss opens the Chris Beard era with 69-59 win over Alabama State
OXFORD, Miss. – The Rebels experienced a bit of a battle as they dispatched Alabama State, 69-59, in the opening of the Chris Beard era Monday night in the SJB Pavilion.
1st Period
Jamarion Sharp, the 7-foot-5 transfer from UNLV, of course won the opening tip of the 2023 Ole Miss basketball season. Then, right away, Rebel veteran Matthew Murrell went right to work to get a tough first bucket to start the year.
Above The Rim@JSMurray10 ➡️ @matt_murre11 pic.twitter.com/1TIvu6VaTh
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 7, 2023
After the first five points of the game went to Murrell, the first sub of the 2023 season was returner TJ Caldwell who checked in for another returner, Jaemyn Brakefield.
Despite the early subs that were Caldwell and Robert Cowherd, the Rebel offense could not buy a bucket outside of Murrell with the score sitting at 5-3 five minutes in. This forced Murrell and Brakefield to sub back in not too long after they went out.
Still struggling from the field at the midway mark in the first half, Murrell hit the first 3-pointer of the year, giving the senior 8 points already as Auburn transfer Allen Flanigan began to get in on the action as well. Ole Miss was 4 for 14 and 1 for 5 from 3-point land ten minutes in, but still, the Rebels led 12-6.
*chefs kiss* 🤌
Welcome to the Sip, @Allen_Flanigan2 pic.twitter.com/ejpTUu0wVP
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 7, 2023
Coach Beard commented on Murrell’s play postgame.
“Matt and I talked a lot during the game, especially at halftime. Nobody wants to win more than Matt Murrell. No one has had a better off season in college basketball. His heart’s in the right place. He just wants to be that guy for the team. I thought he was pressing just a little bit early, that’s just not on him, that’s me too. I’m his coach and so I was just trying to get him to relax a little bit. But he was dialed in at halftime. He was positive, he was talking to his teammates. I thought he gave us a poise in the right times. He obviously can play a lot better and he will.”
~ Beard on Murrell after the opener
With seven minutes to go in the first half, the story remained the Rebels’ inability to get shots to fall. Alabama State started to go on a run because of it, eventually tying it up at 19 at one point.
As the clock wound down in the first half, the Hornets showed grit, keeping it close with the Rebels as the score was 32-27, Ole Miss, with just under two minutes to go. Murrell, Flanigan and Jaylen “JuJu” Murray led the way for Ole Miss as a majority of the buckets came from the trio.
Going into the locker room with a 35-30 lead, the narrative for the Rebels continued to be shots just not falling. Ole Miss was 12 for 35 from the field, 3 for 15 from 3-point land and also 8 for 16 from the charity stripe. The misses allowed long rebounds for Alabama State, letting the Hornets stay in the game with fast break points and contributions from their bench.
Coach Beard commented postgame on Ole Miss struggling from three.
“We were getting some good looks from three, and the ball wasn’t going in. We are a team that wants to shoot the three in transition. The weakest part of any defense is earlier rather than late, and so those are shots we’re gonna keep taking. Our guys put a lot of time in, I have a lot of confidence. I’ll predict that we’ll be up here sooner than later, talking about a 55-60% three point shooting night percentage wise.”
~ Beard on the shooting struggles
At halftime, Murrell led the scoring for the Rebels at 12 with a pair of assists, Murray had 10, and Flanigan already racked up 10 boards along with 8 points. Sharp, doing what he does best, had 4 blocked shots at the half as well.
🫣 @Jaammaarion pic.twitter.com/h1hnTZQVzz
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 7, 2023
Sharp did not see much more time in the second half. Coach Beard commented on that postgame, saying it was a matchup issue.
“(I have) a lot of confidence in Sharp. I thought he was dialed in another night with, looked like four or five blocks from where I was, and he had a chance to block another four or five shots. But our on ball defense was fouling, and it’s like when you play with Sharp, just don’t foul. Just wall up, don’t foul and let him do him.”
~ Beard on Sharp’s performance
2nd Period
The first bucket out of the half went to Flanigan. The forward was fouled but got the shot to fall which gave him a double-double on the night with a full half still to play.
Flanigan continued to add to that total, scoring 7 of the 10 points for Ole Miss 7 minutes into the second half and staying active on the glass as he did all night.
Al’s feeling it 👌@Allen_Flanigan2 | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/lcLzJKFOUt
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 7, 2023
As the Rebels continued to struggle on the offensive end, Caldwell hit two big ‘heat-check’ threes to give the Rebels some breathing room at the mid-way mark of the second half, making it 51-44 Ole Miss.
Doski hits back-to-back triples 🔥🔥@TjCaldwell9 | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/SDljrpqj7a
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 7, 2023
Caldwell continued to heat up in the second half. The Rebel guard had nearly half of the team’s second-half points with five minutes left in the game as the Rebels extended their lead to double digits. Murrell also had a huge slam that seemed to spark the Rebels run.
LOOK OUT‼️@matt_murre11 | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/7UvbujBp1e
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 7, 2023
The buzzer eventually sounded for the first win of the Beard era here in Oxford. The 69-59 victory for the Rebels was fueled by the second-half play of sophomore guard TJ Caldwell. He finished with 15 points on a 6 for 13 shooting night with 12 of those points coming in the second half.
After being asked what tonight was like for him, Beard added, “There’s no place, I think anybody would rather be right now than Oxford, Mississippi.”
Three other Rebels scored 15+ on the night as well. Murrell fell just short of a double-double with 16 points and 9 boards, Murray added another 15 along with 4 assists, and Flanigan recorded a 15-12 double-double in his Ole Miss debut.
Takeaways
- Shots were often forced throughout the game instead of letting plays develop, especially in the first half
- Free throw line struggles: 12 for 25 from the line
- Great rebounding – 17 offensive boards
- Brakefield struggled from the field, but Beard stayed positive about it
- Caldwell’s second half explosion – 12 points in the half
- Flanigan’s double-double – played super efficient
- Turnovers slowed in second half – only 2 of the 8 came after the half
- Sharp flashed the shot-blocking ability early
- Fast break defense was a problem in the first half
Up Next
The Rebels will be back in the Pavilion for their next matchup on Friday, November 10th, to take on the Eastern Washington Eagles. Tipoff is set for 7 pm streaming in ESPN+ and the SEC Network+.
Kameron Wicker
Kam is a senior 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.
