Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard discusses 90-64 loss to Tennessee: ‘They were tougher. They outcoached us’
OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss dropped its first game of the season last night against Tennessee, as the Vols won 90-64 in blowout fashion. Following the contest, Rebels’ head coach Chris Beard offered his remarks on what went wrong for his team.
“They were more physical than us, more competitive than us. They executed a lot better than we did. Really just kicked us in the second half. You guys saw it. So tale of the two halves.”
Head coach Chris Beard
Expanding off of what Coach Beard said, Ole Miss was down 40-31 at halftime with only three fewer offensive rebounds, more steals, and almost the same amount of points in the paint as the Vols.
Unfortunately, in the second half, Ole Miss collected two offensive boards in comparison to Tennessee, who grabbed 14, resulting in 22 second-chance points for the boys in orange.
It got to the point where late in the second half, Coach Beard decided to put 7-foot-5 Jamarion Sharp and 7-foot-0 Moussa Cisse on the floor at the same time in hopes of enhancing their rebound efforts. Beard discussed his decision to put those players on the court simultaneously and how it affected the matchup.
“I think in the first couple minutes of that segment, we might’ve rebounded a little bit better. But that wasn’t the tale of this game. (Tennessee was) more competitive, they were more physical, and they executed their game plan a lot better than we did in the second half.”
Coach Beard
In terms of individual scoring, which has been the backbone of this Rebel squad, Ole Miss was not nearly as consistent as the Rebels would have liked — especially in a road environment against a top-five team. Their top three scorers, Matt Murrell, Allen Flanigan, and Jaylen Murray, combined for just 30 points in a game where they needed to combine for around 50. At the end of the day, all Coach Beard could do was give respect to Tennessee for its exceptional performance against Ole Miss.
“They were tougher. They outcoached us. Tip your hat to Tennessee, got one of the best teams in college basketball, in my opinion.”
Coach Beard
On a positive note, Beard made sure to discuss with his team that, despite taking a tough loss, that doesn’t take away from their 13-game win streak. Coach explained that learning how to go on a winning streak while surviving in high-pressure situations could determine a team’s survival in the March Madness tournament.
“I think that’s an important thing for any team to string some wins together because ultimately you gotta win six games in three weekends to win on the final Monday night. That’s certainly our goal at Ole Miss. For our team to have the ability to win some games in a row, I think it’s a positive. Now we’re in SEC play. It all starts over. We’ve got a couple days here to practice and try to get our first SEC game on Wednesday.”
Coach Beard
Just as Beard said, no matter how difficult last night was, the Rebs are back in action with a shot at redemption against the Florida Gators on Wednesday night. The game will be held in the Pavilion and will be shown on SEC Network at 8 p.m. Hotty Toddy!
