Gamer: Ole Miss defeats Mount St. Mary’s, 77-68
OXFORD, Miss. – Coming off their huge victory over the Memphis Tigers on Saturday, the Rebels men’s basketball team hit the floor again in the SJB Pavilion as the Ole Miss backcourt combined for 50 points to prevail 77-68 over the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers Tuesday night.
8-0.#HottyToddy | #BuildTheCulture pic.twitter.com/j3J8snZk3N
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) December 6, 2023
First half
Right from the tip in this one, you could tell the Ole Miss shooting wasn’t on quite the same trend it was in the Memphis matchup this past weekend.
Ole Miss started 3-for-10 from the field in the first 10 minutes of the game, scoring a majority of their points at the free throw line. TJ Caldwell had 3 of those ‘free’ shots, bringing a spark off the bench early by getting a tough basket while being fouled.
The Steal: @Marshal1Rashaud
The Finish: @TjCaldwell9Rebs on a 9-0 run#HottyToddy | #BuildTheCulture pic.twitter.com/XmfTev8WjU
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) December 6, 2023
The bright spot for Ole Miss at this point in the game was that Mount St. Mary’s was shooting just as bad as the Rebels, 7-for-21 from the field, allowing Ole Miss to keep it tied at 15 with 8 minutes remaining in the half.
Postgame, Coach Beard talked at great length about the expectations he has for this Ole Miss team.
“We have different expectations. I think the biggest gift you can give somebody is to have high expectations…I have high expectations for our attendance, for our crowd, our season ticket holders, and our students…I have an expectation for Ole Miss basketball that there will come a day sooner than most people think that every game will be sold out, not just when we play a big team…And with our basketball team, I expect us to play Ole Miss basketball. I don’t expect us to make every shot…I don’t expect for everything to go our way…I just expect that we are all on the same page with what we’re trying to get done…and I didn’t think that was the case tonight. I am not going to change that (expectations). We came here to win at the highest level and nights like tonight weren’t the step forward that we needed. We had an opportunity to show we could respond from a a great week last week with two BCS wins, to show that we could overcome adversity this week….but we didn’t take advantage of the opportunity. We had chances to blow the game open, but again it just comes down to mistakes — and not basketball mistakes. A lot of our stuff right now is just lack of discipline. Before you can ever start talking about discipline, are we on the same page, do we all have the same expectations? These are questions you guys should ask the players. Maybe they’re happy winning games teams by 10 points. Maybe they’re happy beating teams on the buzzer. I’m not. I just have a ridiculous high expectation for these guys because I believe in them. To me it’s the biggest gift you can give someone when you expect their best and tonight was not our best. No disrespect to our opponent…that’s a good team. I have a lot of respect for their team. They played the game for 40 minutes.” ”
~ Beard on his expectations
The shooting struggles for the Rebels came to end in the last 7 minutes of the half as they scored 24 points in that span. Jaylen “JuJu” Murray sank a 3-pointer after some great ball movement to kick off the scoring.
Great ball movement finds @JSMurray10 👌#HottyToddy | #BuildTheCulture pic.twitter.com/JWVyP5x8uC
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) December 6, 2023
Ole Miss increased its lead to 9 at one point over the Mountaineers; however, Mount St. Mary’s showed resilience down the stretch in not allowing things to get out of reach before the half. The Rebels led 39-34 after the first half with Murray pacing the scoring with 10.
Caldwell, Matthew Murrell and Allen Flanigan were not too far behind Murray in scoring, as the trio had a combined 24 for Ole Miss at the half.
Vintage @matt_murre11 💪#HottyToddy | #BuildTheCulture pic.twitter.com/ZKqPtTUPm2
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) December 6, 2023
Second Half
As the second half began, Murray continued to be the guy looking to score for the Rebels. The Saint Peter’s transfer added another quick 6 points to his total in the first 8 minutes of the half, while Flanigan also contributed to increase the Ole Miss lead to 13 at one point.
Makes it look eaaasyyyy 🫴@JSMurray10 | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/7YtybKUcZl
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) December 6, 2023
Again, it was JuJu Murray making big time shots for the Rebels. The guard helped kick off the Ole Miss scoring party in the second half with a tough drive to the rim, getting the shot to fall.
Too strong 💪@JSMurray10 | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/YY95dKZAee
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) December 6, 2023
Ole Miss continued to pile on after opening the half strong. Over 12 minutes into the half, the Rebels increased their lead to 15, going on a pair of 8-0 runs in the second half.
Murrell and Murray both stayed hot as the second half rolled on, with Murrell really catching fire after hitting a pair of 3s and throwing down a hard slam after a steal.
The runway is clear 🛫@matt_murre11 | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/oyGh05VvUQ
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) December 6, 2023
Down the stretch of the game, it was all Murrell and Murray for Ole Miss as only 3 points in the last 8 minutes came from outside of the backcourt pair. Two of those points came from Caldwell, but it was still via a lob from Murray on the fast break.
YEEEESH 🤧@Robert_money3 ➡️ @Jaemyn1 ➡️ @JSMurray10 ⬆️ @TjCaldwell9#HottyToddy | #BuildTheCulture pic.twitter.com/ZiTBHejUM1
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) December 6, 2023
I asked Murray after the game how he has adjusted to a more point-guard centered role for the Rebels.
“It’s been good. I always say I believe in my coaches, and they believe in me. I feel like the opportunity that Coach Beard gave me, I got to stand up to it. He talked about me being a point guard, me being a leader, so I just got to step in and play.”
~ JuJu on becoming more of a point guard
Ole Miss had a huge game at the free throw line, shooting 20-for-25 on the night. Murray and Murrell combined for 14 of those charity stripe points.
Murray led the scoring for the Rebels with 26 and also added 6 assists, 3 boards, a block and a steal to his total. Not far behind was his backcourt counterpart, Murrell, who finished with 24 points of his own, draining three 3-pointers along with a pair of steals.
Although the Rebels emerged with a victory, they were out-rebounded yet again, a stat that seems to be a trend in the box scores for Ole Miss early this season. Coach Beard spoke about the team’s rebounding in the postgame.
“Rebounding is a heart and effort thing, you’re gonna put a body on somebody, go over and get the ball. There’s so many times with 50/50 balls, we have a chance to get one with two hands and we don’t. I think it’s lack of discipline.”
~ Coach Beard on being out-rebounded often this season
Up Next
Chris Beard and the Rebels will be back on the road again for just the second time this year on Sunday, December 10th against the UCF Golden Knights. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 pm CT with no television slot scheduled yet.
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.
