With win over Bryant, Ole Miss men’s basketball finishes non-conference play a perfect 13-0 to start the season
OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss Rebels closed out non-conference play with a perfect 13-0 record in year one of the Chris Beard era with a 95-79 win over the Bryant Bulldogs.
𝟭𝟯-𝟬.#HottyToddy | #BuildTheCulture pic.twitter.com/VSVkMWSu6h
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) December 31, 2023
Coach Beard commented postgame on the record pace for the Rebels.
“When I think of those kinds of things, I just think of the players. The players deserve all the credit…and certainly the players we recruited, both high school and portal guys, but I’ll say this about records and things. Like, if we’re gonna do the things that we wanna get done here, while we came to Oxford, there’s gonna be a lot of records that need to be approached and broken, over the years and over the next months weeks.”
~ Beard on the start to the year
First Half
The first five minutes of the game after the opening tip was all Jaemyn Brakefield. The Rebel forward immediately scored after Ole Miss won the tipoff, scoring six of the first eight points for the Rebels.
Bryant took a brief one-point lead early, but the Rebels answered with a 11-0 run. Jamarion Sharp got involved on the offensive end as Brakefield and Jaylen Murray drained a pair of threes to give the Rebels a 17-7 lead seven minutes into the game.
It’s cold outside? Juju is hot 🔥@JSMurray10 | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/iHPa52lXRE
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) December 31, 2023
Sharp spoke with the media postgame after his 10-rebound performance and talked about how this team has improved.
“No matter how good it’s been, you always have room for improvement. Always have room for improvement…that’s how you get better. And that’s what we’ve been doing. We’ve been finding the same thing in terms of the program.”
~ Sharp on improving
Midway through the half, the Rebels and the Bulldogs began trading baskets. Every time Bryant attempted to cut away at the double-digit deficit, Ole Miss answered.
The Art of Dunking:
More like Shaq 😤
Less like KD 🤔@moussacisse224 | @TheRonSlay pic.twitter.com/K1HxujoriY— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) December 31, 2023
As the first half came to a close, the Bulldogs began to battle back. Bryant knocked down three of their six 3-point attempts to close out the half, shrinking the Ole Miss lead to 8 at one point.
The Rebels continued to shoot efficiently from the field though, answering most of Bryant’s baskets with their own. Ole Miss also got to the charity stripe often to end the half, shooting 9 for 14 as a team for the first half.
The scoring was scattered around for the Rebels through the first half, with eight Ole Miss players having their name in the box score. Brakefield led the way with 9 points and 5 boards, while JuJu Murray also added 8 points and 3 assists of his own.
Let’s end 2023 with a bang 🎉
Twenty minutes to play in Oxford.#HottyToddy | #BuildTheCulture pic.twitter.com/FAKX6H2uBf
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) December 31, 2023
2nd Half
Ole Miss was just 1 of 6 from the field in the first couple of minutes of the second half. Matthew Murrell, who was quiet most of the first half with 4 points, came screaming in for a putback dunk to get the scoring going for the Rebels.
Fo11ow up Jam from @matt_murre11 💪 pic.twitter.com/i99DLbpoIE
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) December 31, 2023
As Murrell scored the next seven points for Ole Miss, Rafael Pinzon became a major threat for Bryant from deep, draining his fifth three of the game which was over half of the Bulldogs’ 3-point makes. However, the Rebels’ scoring still managed to keep them ahead 64-49 with just over 10 minutes to play.
💪💪💪@matt_murre11 | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/RANLhZSUbc
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) December 31, 2023
Murrell just kept getting to the rim for the Rebels, eventually throwing down another hard slam to extend the Ole Miss lead to 16. However, the Bryant duo of Pinzon and Sherif Gross-Bullock were both closing in on 20-point games and keeping the Bulldogs in reach.
GOOD GRACIOUS 😳@matt_murre11 | #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/W0Si9PGgiC
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) December 31, 2023
Coach Beard spoke in the postgame about the defensive struggles.
“I wasn’t pleased with the way we played defensively today. This team has two dominant scorers, and we let both those guys get going. We just gotta continue to focus on defense, and it’s gonna be a big part of our SEC journey.”
~ Beard on the team defensive play
While the scoring was spread around in the first half, it was all Murrell and Allen Flanigan for Ole Miss throughout the second. The duo combined for 31 in the half, with both of them finding another gear in the final 20 minutes.
Final Media Timeout of 2023:
Ole Miss 85 | Bryant 72
Al’s had a big second half pacing us with 20.
Matt’s got 18, Moussa’s got 10#HottyToddy | #BuildTheCulture pic.twitter.com/OxbNF7NE23— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) December 31, 2023
Once the Rebels increased their lead to 15 for the final time, it became clear this one was over. Despite three Bulldogs scoring 19+ points, the Rebels ran away late with the 17-point victory.
Flanigan led the scoring for Ole Miss, finishing with 20 points, 9 boards and 4 assists. A handful of other Rebels had great games as well with Murrell ending with 18, Brakefield with 16 points and 7 boards, along with Moussa Cisse adding 10 points, 6 boards and 4 blocks.
Up Next
The Rebels will open SEC play in Knoxville on January 6th when they take on the Tennessee Volunteers in a top-25 matchup. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.
The last time Ole Miss finished non-conference play undefeated was the 2007-08 season, and ironically, the Rebels opened SEC play then against Tennessee.
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.
