Preview: No. 25 Ole Miss men’s basketball travels to Biloxi to face Southern Miss
OXFORD, Miss. — No. 25 Ole Miss travels to Biloxi today to face Southern Mississippi in the Mississippi Coast Coliseum with a 1 p.m. tip-off. The Rebels are coming off a 21-point win against Troy on Tuesday.
In the game against the Trojans, Rebel center Moussa Cisse went down with an injury. Fortunately, after the game head coach Chris Beard relayed that Cisse has no structural damage and would have been available to return against Troy had they needed.
For the Golden Eagles, there have been some evident struggles up to this point, including losses to 6-7 South Dakota State, 6-6 Utah Valley, and 7-5 Cal State Fullerton. Southern Miss is 6-5 on the season, but there is no doubt they will bring their best effort against an undefeated in-state SEC school.
Looking at the roster of the Golden Eagles, there is a lot of potential for this team. They have three players who average double-digit scoring per game. Donovan Ivory averages 13 points per game while Victor Hart adds 14.3. Leading the team in scoring, however, is former Ole Miss guard Austin Crowley, who is averaging 16.0 points per game. He transferred to Southern Miss last season.
The Golden Eagles’ leading rebounder is seven-foot center Tegra Izay with 6.1 per game.
Where the Rebs will need to continue to dominate is on defense, which is Chris Beard’s specialty. Against Cal and Troy, Ole Miss faced couple of extremely experienced and skilled guards and did a fantastic job against them.
On the offensive side of the ball for Ole Miss, look for Brandon Murray, the Georgetown transfer, to continue to get more and more minutes, as he played only 15 against Troy in just his second game back. At the same time, you can also expect the combination of Jaemyn Brakefield, Matt Murrell, Jaylen Murray, and Allen Flanigan to dominate the stat sheet. On Tuesday night, the group scored 64/74 of the Rebels points.
Southern Miss ranks 220th or worse in offensive and defensive efficiency, and there are mismatches all over the floor.
Regardless of who gets the points and makes the stops on defense, all that matters is that the Rebs pick up their 12th win. Ole Miss, ranked No. 25 in the nation, has two more games before conference play opens against Tennessee.
Stay tuned to The Rebel Walk for all of your Ole Miss sports news. Hotty Toddy!
