A look at the ‘Cardiac Kids’ as Ole Miss men’s basketball prepares to take on Cal
OXFORD, Miss. — The Ole Miss men’s basketball team has started the season 9-0, already experiencing what seems like a season’s worth of high-intensity games. Cardiac kids, indeed, are these Rebels!
The opener against Alabama State was a 69-59 Ole Miss win, but not without its difficulties. Since then, the Rebels have won one game by a single point, two games by two points, and another two by only three points. They’ve had double-digit wins three times in their nine games, beating the aforementioned Alabama State, followed by Eastern Washington (75-64), and then North Carolina State in Oxford, 72-52.
The NC State game is the only game in which Ole Miss hasn’t trailed their opponent. Whether early or late, mostly late, the Rebels have had to fight from behind. To do this with such success, they’ve been absolute nails from the 3-point line, free throw line, and on defense. “Clutch” apparently becomes this particular group of athletes and their coaching staff.
Trailing Alabama State 25-23 with five minutes left in the first half, TJ Caldwell and Allen Flanigan each hit shots to take a permanent lead.
Down 51-50 with 10-plus minutes to play against Eastern Washington, Rashaud Marshall scored on a layup and slammed one home to put the Rebs up by four in what became a 75-64 victory.
The Rebels next played Detroit Mercy and were favored by 24 points; however, Detroit played like anything but an underdog in this one. Leading 69-68 with only 33 seconds remaining, Detroit missed the second of two free throws. Eight seconds later, Allen Flanigan went to the line for two huge free throws.
Allen’s shooting touch was off in this game, having hit only three of 16 shots, and he’d yet to go to the free throw line. But he put both shots through to get the Rebels a one-point lead, and a Detroit shot at the buzzer then missed the target.
Next, the Sam Houston Bearkats, a longtime FCS program and now a member of C-USA, came into Oxford as 10-point underdogs in the Tad Pad Throwback Game. Once again, it was another dogfight for the Rebels. With 1:27 to play, Sam Houston took a 67-66 lead. Undaunted, Jaylen Murray drained a three on the next possession and Flanigan added a free throw with nine seconds remaining to secure the win.
Ole Miss then headed to Philadelphia to play Temple of the AAC. The Rebels were 4-point favorites in their first road game, but the Owls, who were 3-1, had other plans. Two free throws with 1:39 left gave the home team a 76-75 lead.
The Rebels missed three shots before losing possession, only to get the ball back on a defensive rebound. Still, the ball wouldn’t go down for the Rebs but an offensive rebound led to a foul drawn by Flanigan with only nine seconds remaining.
Flanigan had the hot hand in this game, having hit nine of 13 shots from the field and was at this point four for five from the line. As he had done against Detroit, he made both the tying and go-ahead shots, and after a 3-point buzzer-beater attempt went awry, the Rebels had pulled out a 77-76 win.
A 20-point win over NC State was the first chance the Rebel fans had to exhale, to get a sense of assuredness that Coach Beard had figured out his rotation and the optimal strategies to attack and defend. While the one-game break without heart palpitations was nice, it didn’t last.
The Memphis Tigers came into town fresh off of being voted out of the Top 25 with a very huge chip on their shoulder. The Rebels at one point found themselves down 43-32 a minute into the second half. Ole Miss chipped away with Caldwell hitting a three and a jumper to cut the lead to six. The Rebels, on a Matthew Murrell layup, tied the game at 51 with 14 minutes to play and it was a hold-your-breath, seesaw battle to the very end.
Memphis took a 65-59 lead with 8:15 left and still held a 73-72 lead with 2:29 to go. Guard Jaylen Murray then took the game over by hitting a three, a jumper, and a layup to give the Rebs a 79-77 lead. Jaemyn Brakefield stretched the lead to three from the free throw line with six seconds left and once again, an opponent missed the tying shot at the buzzer. Final: Ole Miss 80, Memphis 77.
The Rebels only trailed Mount St. Mary’s once and it was early in the game, an 11-9 deficit at the 12:33 mark of the first half. The 15-point favorites went on to win 77-68 but did not play up to their coach’s expectations.
When the Rebels headed to Orlando last Sunday to play one of the newest Big 12 members in Central Florida, they would be cast as underdogs for the first time this season. The Knights took their last lead with 4:19 to play, going up 59-58. From there it was a mad scramble that still had plenty to offer with four seconds left.
Once again, it was Allen Flanigan knocking down two big free throws to stretch a one-point lead to three. After a UCF free throw cut the lead to two, Flanigan’s inbounds pass was stolen, at which point he somehow blocked the ensuing shot from underneath the basket. A follow shot by UCF went in but was too late, and the Rebels had escaped with their ninth straight win on the season, 70-68.
Next up, Ole Miss travels to San Antonio Saturday to play Cal in the Hall of Fame Series. Then, the Rebels return home to play Troy on December 19, travel to Biloxi to play Southern Miss on December 23, and then return home for a New Year’s Eve game against Bryant.
The Rebels have four games remaining before starting SEC play in Knoxville against Tennessee on January 6 — hopefully 13-0. Hotty Toddy!
To turn a familiar phrase, get your popcorn ready!
David Walker
David is the consummate true-freshman quarterback, first pioneering the position only a year after college freshmen were given varsity eligibility by the NCAA in 1972. In 1973, the left-handed all-state gunslinger from Sulphur, Louisiana started for the Texas A&M Aggies and earned the All-Southwest Conference Freshman of the Year award as selected by the league’s coaches. David is the first college quarterback ever awarded Freshman of the Year in the NCAA. He was only 17, and still holds the NCAA record as the youngest starting quarterback in college football history. He wore No. 8 at A&M in honor of one of his football heroes, Archie Manning.
In becoming the winningest quarterback ever at A&M, David was converted from a dual-threat QB to a triple option trailblazer. The two-time team captain led three record-breaking offenses that changed the direction of football at A&M forever, establishing once and for all the winning tradition that the Aggies had so-long desired.
As a high school head coach in Houston in the late ‘80s, David stationed his quarterback in the shotgun formation, having him reading defenses and throwing hot routes at a time when such offensive schemes were frowned upon by traditional fans and coaches. One of his quarterbacks tossed 57 passes in a single game, which stood as the all-time Greater Houston Area record for many years.
As you can tell from his bona fides, David is extremely qualified as our expert on all things Quarterback at Ole Miss. Enjoy his exclusive analysis only here at The Rebel Walk!
