Ole Miss men’s basketball returns to action Tuesday against Detroit Mercy
OXFORD, Miss. — Head coach Chris Beard and the Ole Miss men’s basketball team return to action in the Pavilion Tuesday night at 7 p.m. against the Detroit Mercy Titans. This will be the third of a four-game home stand in the SJB Pavilion.
Ole Miss fans have already learned a little bit about this talented group from the opening two games. The first takeaway is that Auburn transfer Allen Flanigan is an elite scorer.
Flanigan leads the Rebs, averaging 22 points per game after scoring his career-high 29 against Eastern Washington. Against the Titans’, I predict Flanigan will drop over 20 points, yet again. With opposing defenses having to focus on Flanigan, this will also help open up the game for Matthew Murrell and Jaemyn Brakefield, two returning veterans on this squad.
In addition to Flanigan making a name for himself early in the season, freshman Rashaud Marshall has proven why he will be a crucial piece for the Rebs on both sides of the ball. Marshall is a player Coach Beard has been complimentary of since the moment he arrived on campus, and moving forward, he may quickly find himself in the starting rotation.
Against Eastern Washington, Rashaud only spent 16 minutes on the floor and scored nine points while getting an assist and an offensive rebound. On Tuesday night, if Marshall is not announced in the starting lineup, he will without a doubt be quickly inserted off the bench.
Detroit Mercy is led by head coach Mike Davis, now in his sixth season with the Titans. Like Coach Beard, Davis is part of the Bob Knight coaching tree, and helped lead Indiana to the 2002 NCAA Championship game at the helm. Now in his 24th season as a collegiate head coach, Davis has amassed 411 career victories, ranking 45th among active coaches in the nation.
Thus far this season, things have not gone well for the Titans after two games. They have played Toledo and Cincinnati, where they lost by more than 30 in both games. Despite being 0-2, the Titans have shot 10 percent better than the Rebs from three-point range. Where they have struggled is depth off the bench, getting rebounds, and moving the ball. Their most productive player through two games has been senior Jayden Stone, who leads the Titans in minutes played and points per game (20).
For the Rebs, fans should expect to see improvement in rebounding and three-point shooting in this matchup. Ole Miss was outrebounded 38-29 against Eastern Washington and struggled from three-point range, only shooting 25 percent.
To see the adjustments that are made for game three, pack the Pavilion at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night!
