What They Said: Ole Miss and Florida coaches, players discuss the Rebels’ win
OXFORD, Miss. — Ole Miss collected its first SEC win this season and did so in dominant fashion Wednesday night, prevailing 103-85 over Florida. The Gators are now 0-2 in conference play. Following the contest, players and both head coaches spoke to the media.
Here is what Florida coach Todd Golden said about the Rebs’ performance:
“Credit to Ole Miss, the way they came out in the second half, I thought they made a lot of really tough shots early, specifically (Allen) Flanigan hit two or three of those baseline fadeaways. Those are shots that we want him to take, and you’ve got to tip your cap that he was able to knock them down,” Golden explained.
“Once it snowballed a little bit, I didn’t think we did a good job pulling ourselves out. Obviously, our defensive effort tonight was atrocious, specifically in the second half. Again, this was a team that was coming off a really tough loss, and they responded really well. This was our first road game in the SEC, and we didn’t handle it very well.”
Florida coach Todd Golden
As for Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard, he described the Rebels’ rebounding efforts against a team that gets the second-most offensive rebounds in the country.
“The game within the game was rebounding. I thought we did a good job rebounding. Early second half, as we were separating, we let it get away from us late. To me, it’s always a 40-minute game. So I don’t like the way we finished the last seven or eight minutes, too much fouling. The rebounds became an issue late. Give our guys a lot of credit. I thought in the first 30 minutes we responded and did a better job on the backboards.”
Chris Beard
Later in Coach Golden’s press conference, he was asked to offer his thoughts on 7-foot-5 Jamarion Sharp, who blocked nine shots and had eight points on the night.
“He did a good job of protecting the rim, and that’s something that’s going to be an issue for teams that play Ole Miss if he’s able to play with that physicality at the rim. He did a good job with the way that the game was played of protecting the rim, for sure.”
Coach Golden on Jamarion Sharp
Similarly, Coach Beard also spoke on the SEC block leader’s performance.
“When you’re (Jamarion) talented and your heart’s in the right place, then good things are gonna happen eventually.”
Coach Beard on Jamarion Sharp
In addition to the coaches, Ole Miss’ Jamarion Sharp and Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. also spoke to the media after the game. Sharp was asked how the Rebs came out in the second half, only being up four, and what made it different from their loss against Tennessee.
“This second half, we were more together as a team. We moved the ball more, were less unselfish, and communicated better,” he commented.
Florida’s leading scorer, Clayton Jr., discussed the intensity of the Ole Miss defense: “They definitely did a good job of pressuring us and taking us out of our stuff, but we knew that was coming. That’s how they play defense, and we just weren’t able to run what we wanted to. On defense, they hit a lot of tough shots and got a lot of offensive rebounds.”
The Rebels will retake the floor at noon this Saturday against Vanderbilt, but until then, stay tuned to The Rebel Walk for all of your Ole Miss sports coverage and more!
