Ole Miss falls to Texas A&M, 80-71, in second round of SEC Tournament
NASHVILLE — Ole Miss fell to Texas A&M, 80-71, Thursday evening in the second round of the SEC Tournament.
The game was much closer than last Saturday’s 86-60 A&M win, but the Aggies pulled away from the Rebels in the second half.
In terms of the basketball game, tell you what we told our team a few minutes ago,” Chris Beard said after the game.
“Much better effort than we had the other day in Oxford. We played Texas A&M three times this year, beat them in College Station. Just did not play well at all in Oxford. Not taking anything away from their effort the other day. They played well. I thought tonight was one of those games where I thought we ran out of time.”
Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard
Ole Miss finished with a 42 percent (25/60) field goal clip, but shot just 29 percent (9/31) from three-point range and only 57 percent (12/21) from the free throw line.
The Aggies are No. 1 in the nation in offensive rebounds per game, averaging 17.32, and they proved it tonight, finishing with 21 offensive boards to the Rebels’ nine. Buzz Williams’ A&M team finished with 27 defensive rebounds to Ole Miss’ 23.
“Thought our guys played really hard tonight and well in a lot of ways,” Coach Beard said.
“Obviously rebounding was a challenge for us all season. Our season kind of ended on a note where, once again, that was a weakness of our team. We’ll have to do a better job coaching that and teaching and ultimately recruit better to it, as well.“
Coach Beard
Ole Miss forward Jaemyn Brakefield led all scorers with 23, while A&M star Wade Taylor IV led his team with 20 points.
Allen Flanigan chipped in 17 for the Rebels, while Matthew Murrell scored 14 and Jaylen “JuJu” Murray added 10.
The loss ends the Rebels’ hopes of making the NCAA Tournament, and it is not known if Ole Miss would accept a bid if invited to the NIT.
At this point in what could be the end of the season, Ole Miss sits at 20-12 overall and 7-11 in SEC play. Though fans are likely disappointed, it is worth pointing out this team finished with eight more wins than last year’s team, the last season of the Kermit Davis era.
Stay tuned to The Rebel Walk to find out if the Rebels receive and accept an NIT bid.
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn's love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
