Ole Miss falls to Alabama, 103-88, after Tide’s second-half rally
OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss men’s basketball team started hot but cooled off in the second half Wednesday night in the SJB Pavilion, suffering a 103-88 loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Final. pic.twitter.com/76gIHiQ5vL
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) February 29, 2024
First Half
Fighting for a spot to play in March Madness, the Rebels came out of the gate knocking down shots against the Crimson Tide defense. Moussa Cisse immediately got the Ole Miss crowd on its feet, throwing down a thunderous slam to kick off the scoring.
That’s a Start 😤 pic.twitter.com/LTngz8dwiW
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) February 29, 2024
Six minutes in, the Tide and the Rebels were frequently trading buckets as the Rebels held onto a two-point lead. Ole Miss would then go on a 10-0 run over the next two minutes, taking a 25-13 lead after TJ Caldwell buried a triple in the corner.
3️⃣J pic.twitter.com/l6Ge5jFtc1
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) February 29, 2024
The Rebels continued to knock down shots, clinging onto their double-digit lead midway through the half. Jaemyn Brakefield began to go to work in the paint and Allen Flanigan gave the Rebels their largest lead of the night after throwing it down hard on the fastbreak.
After the game, Head Coach Chris Beard commented on Brakefield’s recent wrist injury.
“He is playing banged up right now, but no different than any other team in the country right now. I thought his heart was in the right place tonight. Obviously, he has to play better, we have to play better.“
~ Chris Beard’s update on Brakefield’s wrist injury
Largest Lead of the Half 💪 pic.twitter.com/zmjTJWSMr5
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) February 29, 2024
However, with five minutes left in the half Alabama fired back with an 11-0 run of its own over the next four minutes. Ole Miss reached the bonus late in the half though, using the free throw line to take a 3-point lead into the halftime locker room.
Flanigan led the way for the Rebels at the break with 12 points while Matthew Murrell added another 8 points. Most notably, Ole Miss was winning the battle on the glass at the half with 23 boards to Alabama’s 16.
Beard commented on the momentum swing from the first half to the second.
“I thought we were very aggressive tonight. We were dialed in, and effort was at an all-time high. We had guys making plays. In the second half, we just had those lows where we were missing assignments. Many of their 3-point shots tonight’s were not manufactured by their offense, they were manufactured by our mistakes.”
~ Chris Beard on the first to second half swing
Second Half
As soon as the final half of play began, the Crimson Tide quickly took control of this one. After going just 6 for 20 from deep in the first half, Alabama began to drain the triple often as Ole Miss struggled with leaving shooters open in the corner.
The Alabama lead increased to as high as 8 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half; however, the Rebels began to get aggressive, forcing their way to the charity stripe on the way to tying the game at 65 midways through.
Flashy ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/Mxn67ZWDLp
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) February 29, 2024
Although the Rebels shot 52% from the field on the night, it became difficult to hang around with a Crimson Tide team that shot and buried triples often. Alabama made 15 shots from behind the arc on the night, draining nine of those in the second half.
Coach Beard commented on the Alabama shot making in the second half during the postgame.
“Turning the ball over and them giving them extra possessions on the offensive glass…that really hurt us. I thought the start of the second half, I saw the confidence begin to shift a little bit…just didn’t have enough late in this game.“
~ Chris Beard on the second half difference
As crunch time rolled around, the Crimson Tide held onto a 74-70 lead before going on a 13-4 run over the next three minutes to create their largest lead of the night with five minutes left to play.
Brakefield and Flanigan continued to get shots to fall for the Rebels, bringing them with single digits a couple of times in the final stretch of the game. However, once again, the Alabama 3-pointers kept coming which helped the Tide put this one away late.
The rebound battle that was in favor of Ole Miss going into the halftime break drastically changed in the final half of play with Alabama winning that battle 20 boards to the Rebels’ 8.
Flanigan led the way for Ole Miss with 28 points and 6 rebounds while Brakefield added another 21 points.
Up Next
The Rebels will be back on the road this Saturday, March 2nd, to take on the Missouri Tigers. Tipoff is set for 7:30 pm CT on the SEC Network.
Kameron Wicker
Kam is an undergraduate 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.
