Ole Miss Men’s Basketball opens regular season with offensive onslaught in 90-60 win over Long Island
OXFORD, Miss. – The No. 24-ranked Ole Miss men’s basketball team opened the season Monday night against the Long Island Sharks as Jaylen ‘Juju’ Murray proved too much on the offensive end for the Rebels in a 90-60 victory.
1-0.#HottyToddy x #Culture pic.twitter.com/Od3MR4veSl
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 5, 2024
“Really wanted to thank the fans for coming out tonight and obviously the student section. If we can get that kind of support from the students this year, I think we can continue to build a home-court advantage. They were the energy in the building tonight.”
~ Beard on the Ole Miss student section tonight
First half
The Rebel offense started slow, missing five straight shots to begin the game, leaving it to the defense to gain momentum. However, after forcing a shot-clock violation from the Sharks to begin the game, the Rebel defense began to struggle as well.
Malik Dia picked up two quick fouls, forcing Chris Beard to take him off the floor as the Rebels had four team fouls in the first five minutes of play.
Following the first bucket of the night for Ole Miss, coming from Dre Davis, the Rebel offense still could not get shots to fall. Jaemyn Brakefield found four quick points at the charity stripe; however, Long Island refused to let up as the Sharks got two triples to fall to take a 10-7 lead seven minutes in.
Following the victory, Beard commented on the slow start for the Rebels.
“I think our slow start was kind of one of those interesting deals, I agree with Juju. We were getting good shots around the basket…I was really proud of our defense early. Opening game, no jitters or nervousness with our older guys, but a feeling of excitement.”
~ Beard on the slow start for the Rebels
JuJu then took matters into his own hands, driving to the basket with force and getting the layup to fall for the and-one bucket.
With the game tied at 10, Virginia Tech transfer Sean Pedulla was left open on the wing and gave the Rebels the lead with a triple. Murray would then quickly extend the Rebel lead to five on the fast break as the Ole Miss offense began to heat up.
First triple as a Reb for @PedullaSean 👌 pic.twitter.com/dHdmw5hlj8
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 5, 2024
The bucket that gave Jaylen Murray 1,000 career points https://t.co/hfQsMjLs0Q pic.twitter.com/ehm6T5r8Yy
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 5, 2024
Following a two-minute scoring drought for both squads, Brakefield did what he does best and created his own offense. The Rebel forward danced on his defender, stepping back to bank in a triple to give Ole Miss its first double-digit lead of the night.
The Sharks then quickly cut the Rebel lead to 20-14; however, Murray kept letting the triple fly, and this time he hit one from a few feet behind the line.
The Rebels continued to struggle, unfortunately, to find any offense as shots came clunking off the rim. The one area Ole Miss found success in was getting to the free throw line as they ended the first half of play with 20 attempts from the line, draining 17 of them.
Behind the efforts of Brakefield and Murray, the Rebels were able to keep some distance on the scoreboard as the Sharks were struggling offensively, as well, down the stretch. Brakefield ended the half with 10 points and three boards.
Murray surpassed 1,000 career points for his collegiate career in the first half, hitting three of the Rebels’ five triples, including one from way downtown to end the half. Murray had 18 points at the break while shooting a near-perfect 5-of-6 from the field.
After the win, Murray joined his coach at the podium to comment on surpassing 1,000 career points.
“I really didn’t know until someone told me before the game. It’s definitely a blessing. I am glad I got my 1,000 points with Coach Beard. Like I always say, he’s believed in me since the first time I spoke to him.”
~ Murray on surpassing 1,000 career points
JUJU 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ztd1WcTFTN
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 5, 2024
The story behind the first-half struggles for the Rebels was the lack of ball movement as they only added five assists to the halftime box score. Ole Miss was also shooting 11-for-25 from the field despite the 44-27 lead.
After the game, Murray commented on how the locker room conversations went after a tough first half offensively for Ole Miss.
“What impressed me a lot was, we talked about it at halftime, we are a veteran team. We weren’t really worried too much, that the basket was tight for us. We were just still trying to figure out ways to keep getting to the paint, keep getting good shots. It wasn’t like we were taking bad shots, most of the shots we were getting were in the paint…we were not worried at all.”
~ Murray on the halftime message
Second half
Coming out of the break, the Rebels began the final half of play similar to the way they began the first half, fouling the Sharks and sending them to the line for free ones.
However, Dia found some momentum following an angry block on one end, then finding the first Rebel points of the half on the other end as the big man used the ‘dream shake’ to find his way to the basket. Two more quick baskets from Davis and Davon Barnes then gave the Rebels a 50-32 lead, their largest of the night.
STUFFED 😳@malikkdia x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/0ZoCqpKXUb
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 5, 2024
Nifty first bucket in an Ole Miss uniform for @kingdavon0 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/dTkWuCgu5J
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 5, 2024
However, the Rebel offense continued to look sloppy despite winning the turnover battle, struggling to hold onto the ball at times. The Sharks then cut into the lead, finding themselves within 15 points of the Rebels.
The Rebels then scored six unanswered points in the matter of a minute courtesy of Pedulla, Davis and Matthew Murrell. Murray then found himself on the wing again, not needing much space to get his fourth triple of the night to fall, giving the Rebels a 20-point lead with 11 and a half minutes to play.
Pedulla would then add insult to injury for the Sharks’ defense, delivering a beautiful pass inside to an open Mikeal Brown-Jones to extend the Ole Miss lead to 64-41.
Goggles 🥽@PedullaSean ➡️ @kealuno1 pic.twitter.com/p8AfwY4SOM
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 5, 2024
Both squads then went cold from the field; however, the Sharks were able to cut into the Rebel lead with a couple of trips to the charity stripe. Again, it was Murray hitting his fifth triple of the night to end the three-minute scoring drought, extending the Rebel lead back to 20 plus.
Following the game-one win, Beard spoke about the stellar night for Murray.
“Tonight, the basket got big for Juju. I agree with him (Juju), giving him teammates the credit. They were the ones who passed him the ball and spaced the floor where you can get those shots up…I thought Juju did a great job tonight taking great shots.”
~ Beard on Murray’s 24-point night
The Murray triple started a 12-2 run over the next three minutes of play, giving the Rebels a 77-49 lead. Murrell hit his first triple of the night followed by great ball movement finished by a Davis slam on the next trip down the floor.
Welcome to Oxford, @DAndreDavis 🫡 pic.twitter.com/DtbElz587B
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 5, 2024
True freshman John Bol then joined the party, rejecting a Long Island shot on one end and getting a layup to fall for the first points of his collegiate career.
BOTH ENDS OF THE FLOOR 💪@JohnBol_7 x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/kRqx8aiZfx
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 5, 2024
A couple of free ones from the line and a jumper from Dia gave the Rebels a 30-point lead with under four minutes to play.
Beard then began to clear the bench a bit, giving minutes to Robert Cowherd and Ja’Von Benson. Another big-time true freshman, Eduardo Klafke, then found his first career collegiate points at the free throw line.
After the game, Coach Beard commented on both of his true freshman competing in their first career college game.
“It’s kind of a special deal…There is an opportunity for both of those young guys this year to help this team. Certainly, we all know what this thing can look like in the future as they run their own race.”
~ Beard on Bol and Klafke getting minutes in game one
The Pavilion crowd then erupted in the final minute of play as 5-foot-5, Jackson, Mississippi native Cam Brent checked into the game. After getting rejected on his first shot attempt, the fearless guard came right back down the floor on the next possession and got a mid-range jumper to fall for his first career points as a Rebel.
First career bucket for @1CamBrent 🔥#HottyToddy x #Culture pic.twitter.com/T12AQhClIG
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 5, 2024
Coach Beard commented on the first career bucket for Brent following the win.
“Cam Brent is a good player…a lot of other colleges he could be playing at, but he loves Ole Miss. He’s got a plan for his future. He is a big part of our team. Nobody is more important than Cam.”
~ Beard on Cam Brent scoring his first career points
Juju Murray led the way for the Rebels with 24 points on the night, adding three boards and a pair of assists. Brakefield added 12 points and seven boards as well, and Davis and Murrell both finished with 11 points each.
Up Next
The Rebels will stay at home in the SJB Pavilion this coming Friday as they will host the Grambling State Tigers. Tipoff is set for 6 pm CT on the SEC Network.
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.
