Ole Miss Men’s Basketball Welcomes Mount St. Mary’s on Tuesday

OXFORD, Miss. – (Release) The Ole Miss men’s basketball team looks to build off a pair of momentum-building wins last week, hosting Mount St. Mary’s on Tuesday, December 5 at 7 p.m. in the SJB Pavilion on SECN+.

TEAM FACTS
Ole Miss Rebels (7-0)
Head Coach: Chris Beard • 1st Season at Ole Miss (7-0) • 244-98 career record (12th Season)

Mount St. Mary’s (2-5)
Head Coach: Dan Engelstad • 6th Season at Mount St. Mary’s (61-95) • 165-129 career record (11th Season)

ON THE AIR
Television/Online: SEC Network+
Play-by-Play: Jake Hromada
Color: John Stroud

OLE MISS RADIO
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
Play-by-Play: David Kellum
Color: Marc Dukes

A NEW SERIES
Ole Miss and Mount St. Mary’s will face each other for the first time ever on the basketball court. While the Mountaineers joined the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference last season, the Rebels are undefeated against their fellow conference members, going 1-0 against Fairfield, Iona, Rider, and Siena.

As a member of conference mate Saint Peter’s last year, Ole Miss guard Jaylen Murray went 1-1 against Mount St. Mary’s and averaged 15.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.0 steals.

SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
Mount St. Mary’s owns a 2-5 record to begin the season, opening with a loss at Maryland before defeating Coppin State. They then lost four straight against Georgetown, American, Howard, and Manhattan, and most recently defeated Siena.

The Mountaineers have been led by Dakota Leffew, who averages a team-best 17.4 points per game and has scored 20 or more in the last four contests. Their leading rebounder, Jedy Cordilia, averages 5.9 per outing, and grabbed a season-best 11 boards against Manhattan.

As a team, Mount St. Mary’s ranks in the top-100 in the NCAA in turnovers forced per game (No. 39, 15.9), offensive rebounds per game (No. 70, 12.7), bench points per game (No. 71, 27.0), steals per game (No. 74, 8.3), and three-point field goal defense (No. 98, 30.1%).

In his sixth year at the helm, head coach Dan Engelstad leads the Mountaineers, and has won 165 games as an NCAA head coach in 11 seasons.

A NEW ERA BEGINS
With the hiring of Chris Beard last March, the Ole Miss men’s basketball program is prepared to take the next step forward, bringing in one of the most successful coaches of the last decade.

Compiling a record of 244-98 as an NCAA head coach since 2012, Beard holds one of the highest win percentages in the nation, ranking 11th among active head coaches with 10 or more years of experience at 71.3%.

The 2019 AP National Coach of the Year has led three different programs to the NCAA Tournament over the previous eight years, and is undefeated in the opening round at 5-0. His all-time record in the NCAA Tournament is 11-5 (.688).

THE LAST OF THE UNBEATENS
Ole Miss is one of just 14 teams in the country who remain unbeaten, going 7-0 to begin the 2023-24 season thus far. This marks just the fourth time in program history the Rebels have gone undefeated through their first seven games of the season, with the last coming in 2007-08.

2007-08: Began 13-0
2000-01: Began 11-0
1936-37: Began 11-0

A NEW 1K KING
With 12 points in Ole Miss’ win over NC State, Matthew Murrell surpassed the 1,000-career point mark, becoming the 42nd student-athlete in program history to do so. Now at 1,029 points in his career with the Rebels, he sits seven points behind next on the list, 2023 M Club Hall of Fame inductee Todd Abernethy.

“I CAN BE YOUR LONG LOST PAL”
After posting the third double-double of his career in the season opener (15 points, career-best 12 rebounds), Allen Flanigan followed it up with a career-best 29 points against Eastern Washington. The senior guard also surpassed the 1,000 career-point mark against the Eagles, and played a key part in securing the victory by scoring eight of the last 11 points for the Rebels.

He once again led the team in scoring with 23 against Sam Houston, connecting on a career-best 14 makes from the free throw line. The senior helped lead Ole Miss to victory in their first road game at Temple with 26 points, the second-most scored in a game for his career, while tallying a career-best seven assists. Flanigan added his second double-double of the year in a 20-point win over NC State in the ACC/SEC Challenge with 15 points and 10 rebounds and helped Ole Miss take down Memphis with 18.

Flanigan currently ranks third in the SEC in points per game at 19.1.

THA BLOCK IS HOT
Averaging 6.7 blocks per game, Ole Miss ranks fourth in the country and is keeping opponents to just 39.5 percent shooting from the floor which ranks No. 49 in the nation. The muscle in the paint for the Rebels so far has been Jamarion Sharp, who leads the SEC in blocks per game (2.57) and ranks second in blocks (18), ranking No. 13 and No. 25 in the NCAA, respectively. Ole Miss is set to get even better at defending down low, with the recent waiver approval of forward Moussa Cisse, who averages 1.81 blocks per game for his career, the 15th-best average in the NCAA among all active players.

“I TAKE THE WORK, FLIP IT, ACROBATIC”
Through the first five games of the season, Ole Miss has shown elite ball control and movement on the offensive side. With a total of 114 assists compared to just 70 turnovers, the Rebels’ assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.63 ranks No. 21 in the nation. They also rank No. 35 in the country in turnovers per game at 10.0.

The team is led in assists by Jaylen Murray (32 assists to 14 turnovers) and Matthew Murrell (25 assists to 14 turnovers). Murray’s 4.6 assists per game ranks 82nd in the NCAA and third in the SEC.

PLAYING SMART
Through seven games this season, Ole Miss averages just 14.0 fouls per game, the fourteenth-lowest average in the NCAA.

REAL RECOGNIZE REAL
In the latest AP Top-25 Poll and USA Today Coaches’ Poll, Ole Miss received votes, landing No. 33 in the Coaches’ Poll with 23 votes, and No. 35 in the AP Poll with 15 votes. The program was last in the top-25 polls in January 2019 when they ranked No. 20 on January 21.

HOW’S THE WEATHER?
The roster for Ole Miss this season has the tallest student-athlete in Division I in forward Jamarion Sharp, and has the shortest student-athlete in the country in guard Cam Brent. The two stand a full two feet apart in height, with Sharp at 7’5″ and Brent at 5’5″.

AMONG THE BEST
Forwards Jamarion Sharp and Moussa Cisse rank among the nation’s best in active career leaders in a handful of statistical categories. After becoming the fifth player ever to lead the NCAA in blocks in two seasons, Sharp ranks first in both career blocks and career blocked shots per game. Establishing himself as a premier shot blocker as well, Cisse ranks 15th in blocks per game, and 16th in total blocks.

Averaging 7.3 rebounds per game in his career, Sharp ranks No. 42 in the country, while Cisse’s 627 career boards rank No. 70. Cisse also ranks among the top-50 in double-doubles (15, No. 49 in NCAA).

MILESTONES ALERT
Career milestones to watch for the Rebels:

Allen Flanigan
• Career 3PM: 98
Matthew Murrell
• Career Points: 1,029 – Ranks 42nd at Ole Miss (No. 41: Todd Abernethy, 1,036)
• Career 3PM: 154 – 163 enters top-10 in school history
• Career 3PA: 457 – Ranks 10th at Ole Miss (No. 9: Stefan Moody, 494)
Jamarion Sharp
• Career Blocks: 297 – Would be 112th player in NCAA history with 300 career blocks

“WE BALLIN’ LIKE THE MARCH MADNESS”
Among the seven transfers for the Rebels, over half have been to the NCAA Tournament during their collegiate career, with a total of five appearances. Brandon Murray (LSU, 2022 First Round), Austin Nunez (Arizona State, 2023 First Round), and Jaylen Murray (Saint Peter’s, 2022 Elite Eight) have each been to the postseason once in their careers, while Allen Flanigan has been twice (Auburn, 2022 and 2023 Second Round).

VALUED LEADERSHIP
The Ole Miss men’s basketball coaching staff is one of the more experienced around the country. Entering his 14th year as a collegiate head coach, Chris Beard is joined on the court by former head coaches Win Case (16 years), Brian Burg (three years), and Wes Flanigan (two years). Assistant coach Bob Donewald Jr. has 16 years of head coaching experience at the professional and national level, while assistant Al Pinkins has been an associate or assistant coach at six different NCAA Division-I programs, including four within the SEC. The Ole Miss coaching staff has experience at five other SEC programs: Auburn, Florida, LSU, Mississippi State, and Tennessee.

SKEE-LO’S HERO
Transfer forward Jamarion Sharp stands as the tallest student-athlete in NCAA Division I men’s basketball this season at 7’5″, a title he has held for three-straight seasons now, and is even listed as one of the tallest living humans on Wikipedia. After spending his first two college years at John A. Logan College, Sharp played two years at Western Kentucky from 2021 to 2023. In 64 games played, he averaged 7.8 points per game, 7.6 rebounds per game, and became just the fifth person ever to lead the NCAA in blocks twice. His margin of 4.18 blocks per game during his career is currently the 12th-best average in college basketball history.

Career Blocked Shot Average (min. 225 blocks)
1. 5.87 – Keith Closs, Central Conn. St. (54 GP, 317 blks.)
2. 5.66 – Adonal Foyle, Colgate (87 GP, 492 blks.)
3. 5.34 – Shawn James, Northeastern/Duquesne (83 GP, 443 blks.)
4. 5.24 – David Robinson, Navy (67 GP, 351 blks.)
5. 4.66 – Mickell Gladness, Alabama A&M (85 GP, 396 blks.)
6. 4.65 – Wojciech Myrda, La.-Monroe (115 GP, 535 blks.)
7. 4.58 – Shaquille O’Neal, LSU (90 GP, 412 blks.)
8. 4.48 – Jerome James, Florida A&M (81 GP, 363 blks.)
9. 4.42 – Deng Gai, Fairfield (100 GP, 442 blks.)
10. 4.28 – Emeka Okafor, UConn (103 GP, 441 blks.)
11. 4.21 – Justin Williams, Wyoming (58 GP, 244 blks.)
12. 4.18 – Jamarion Sharp, Western Ky./Ole Miss (71 GP, 297 blks.)

“IT AIN’T GON’ NEVER STOP”
Head coach Chris Beard and staff continue to work on securing the future for Ole Miss basketball, and did so with a pair of signees in the NLI early signing period in November:

John Bol • F • 7-1 • Buma • Overtime Elite
Ranked as the second-highest recruit in program history according to 247Sports, Bol is a consensus four-star recruit, ranking as high as No. 38 in the nation by 247Sports and No. 40 by ESPN. He is an elite shot blocker and rebounder who stands at 7’1″ and is able to affect the game on both ends of the floor. Ranked as the top player in the state of Georgia by ESPN, Bol has developed a reputation as one of the hardest playing big men in the country.

Eduardo Klafke • G • 6-5 • Fanca-Sao Paulo, Brazil • NBA Academy Latin America
A combo guard from the prestigious NBA Academy Latin America, Klafke will come to Oxford from Franca-Sao Paulo, Brazil. One of the top international players in his age group, he has consistently played above his age while representing Brazil on the national stage, playing in U19 games as a 17-year-old. Klafke will help bring a spark to the offense as an elite shooter and is excellent in playing both on and off the ball.

(Feature image credit: Ole Miss Athetics)