TJ’s Takeaways: Ole Miss Defeats Long Island 90-60 in Season Opener

Editor’s Note: Here’s the first edition for this new season of “TJ’s Takeaways,” our in-depth look at the latest Ole Miss men’s basketball game, where our TJ Oxley gives you his thoughts, analysis, and insight. This series is here to help identify things that really stand out from the games, things you may not be able to find from a box score. And if you’re also looking for a recap of the game, don’t worry we’ve got you covered. Check it out HERE.

OXFORD, Miss. — Starting off the second season in the Chris Beard era, Ole Miss cruised to a 90-60 victory over Long Island to begin 1-0.

The game had a quiet start but ended with a roar from the Rebel faithful in attendance at The SJB Pavilion after Ole Miss ended the game with a 30-point lead over the visiting Long Island Sharks.

It was a day of firsts as eight new players on this roster made their Rebel debut. As a new team, Ole Miss showed some first-game excitement, struggling out of the gate as they netted only 17 points in the game’s first ten minutes. After that, Chris Beard’s team found its groove, scoring 73 points over the game’s final 30 minutes, including a 46-point second half.

With a roster rich in experience and productivity, it was a familiar face who led the way for Ole Miss. Senior guard Jaylen “JuJu” Murray finished scoring a game-high 24 points. Murray exploded in the first half for 18 points and made five threes in the contest. Matthew Murrell, Dre Davis and Jaemyn Brakefield all finished with double figures in the opener as well.

As a team, Ole Miss shot 49% from the field, 41% from three, and finished 25-32 from the free throw line. The Rebels won the rebounding margin, 42-33. Getting inside and controlling the paint was a focal point with the Ole Miss’ size advantage and it showed as they outscored Long Island in the paint, 34-24.

A Glimpse into the Ole Miss Defense

Ever since arriving at Ole Miss, Coach Beard has talked about versatility. The Rebels now have the right group to showcase that versatility and we see it now, especially on the defensive end. When discussing what we’ve seen in the Ole Miss defense, there are two common themes, switching and shading.

Switching

The first element is switching. In order to accomplish switchability, you have to have the personnel to do so. For that, your guards have to be strong, as well as quick, to defend the post for moments, and the bigs have to be light on their feet to step out on the perimeter.

It feels as if Ole Miss now has the right bunch to truly switch 1-5. A lot of teams may switch 1-3 or 1-4 but few teams in college basketball can switch 1-5 and do it effectively. New additions, Malik Dia and Mikeal Brown-Jones both have the quickness to step out and hold their ground defensively against guards. New to the announcing team, former Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis commented on this early in the game. It was a trait that I also noticed in the Illinois scrimmage.

This switching can negate a lot of offensive action and cause offenses to panic. It was noticeable how often Ole Miss held Long Island to deeper possessions in the clock and how far away from the basket they were. It wasn’t a perfect display on the defensive end, but we could see what the Rebels were trying to do.

Shading

Secondly, we see shading. Coach Beard now has his defensive coordinator in Mark Adams on the sideline. The duo have been responsible for some of the top defenses in college basketball. Today we saw that famous no-middle defense in action. These defenses will pride themselves on forcing to the sideline. Any time the ball swings to one wing or the other, they will try to keep it there, either on that wing or in the corner. They accomplish this by shading the ball-handler to the sideline, creating a situation where the defense can use the sideline and baseline as extra defenders.

When doing this, Ole Miss is giving something up, though: normally it’s the ability to attack to that sideline side. The Rebels fronted the post man and had defenders heavily in passing lanes to create one, help defenders on the attack and two tough lines of sight for passes trying to take away the next pass. Kermit talked about icing during the broadcast, and that is a form of screen defense where the on-ball defender jumps above the screener to continue to force the ball handler towards the sideline side of the court.

With Ole Miss shading and having the personnel to switch, the Rebels are looking to keep the ball on one side of the court for 15+ seconds of a possession. In a game like tonight, it helped the Rebels force 16 turnovers and hold Long Island to 34% shooting from the field.

Fresh-faced Freshman Get First Reps

With the Rebels bringing in eight new players to the roster and a productive group of transfers, it’s easy to forget about the high school class. Ole Miss welcomes two key-names from the Class of 2024, most notable of which is 7-foot-2 John Bol. The center is one of the highest-ranked recruits in Ole Miss basketball history and just the second McDonald’s All-American to commit to the Rebels. Alongside Bol is Brazilian guard Eduardo “Du” Klafke. The 6-foot-5 guard represented Brazil’s U19 team as a 17 year old.

So what did we see from the two freshman?

Du Klafke: Despite the high rankings for Bol as a recruit, it was Klafke who found the court first. Du played the game with intensity on the defensive end for the ten minutes he was in the game. He was very active on that end, whether it was at the point-of-attack or off the ball. His length was on display, and he showed he can come in and defend for stretches.

Later on when the game was well in hand, Du started to have the ball in his hands a bit more and even looked to create a shot of his own. He would record his first two points on a pair of free throws late in the second half. If Klafke can pull open 3’s, be an effective passer, and continue to play intense defense, he could become a rotational wing alongside Davon Barnes. He finished the game with 2 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist.

John Bol: In limited action, we saw exactly why John Bol is a McDonald’s All-American. His 7-foot-2 size is impossible to miss and he moves well for a guy at that size. Bol played seven minutes and tallied two points and four rebounds. That length was on full display as he was noticeably longer and got higher vertically on those rebounds. If he can work on being a strong rebounder, he could find more minutes with rim protection.

BOTH ENDS OF THE FLOOR 💪@JohnBol_7 x #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/kRqx8aiZfx

— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 5, 2024

Jaylen Murray Shines with Team Around Him

As previously mentioned, JuJu Murray led the way with 24 points tonight. He was 7-10 from the field and 5-8 from the perimeter. Murray also tallied three rebounds and two assists. Murray displayed perimeter shot-making tonight while being able to threaten with the drive. He excelled at absorbing contact and continuing to blow by a bigger defender for a layup on the left side in the first half.

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

His three ball was on, just as we saw last year where he looks like he is analyzing the court and then all of a sudden just pulls it when the defender gives an inch of space. Last year, Murray was on a shooting tear in December and January, making 42 threes over the course of the two months at a 49% clip. However, in February and March his three-point clip dipped to 25.6%. There’s a lot of potential reasons for this dip, but this year it feels as if Murray can benefit more from doing less, so to speak.

This year’s group has a lot of high-usage players on the roster from other teams including Sean Pedulla, Dre Davis, Malik Dia and Mikeal Brown-Jones. Add those to Jaemyn Brakefield, who can operate with the ball in his hands, and Murray may not have to be the shot creator he was last year. This is a benefit as these guys also demand attention and can provide ample spacing. We saw the benefit of that spacing against Long Island as Murray got good looks from the perimeter. It is early, but Murray was the player I was most excited to watch on this team, so it may be interesting to see how he fares in somewhat more of an off-ball role.

Ole Miss basketball is almost back.

So here is our preseason staff picks.

Who are you most excited to see take the court for the Rebels this season?
🏀🔵🔴 pic.twitter.com/UF0ze0d8RX

— T.J. (@TJOxley1) October 23, 2024

Next Up

Ole Miss hosts Grambling State this Friday, Nov. 8. Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m.