TJ’s Takeaways: Ole Miss Scores 100 in Win Over Oral Roberts

Editor’s Note: In our ongoing series, “TJ’s Takeaways,” we give readers an in-depth look at the latest Ole Miss men’s basketball game, as 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.

Ole Miss defeated Oral Roberts on Thursday night in front of a home crowd at the Sandy and John Black Pavilion. The Rebels scored 50 points in each half to reach the century-mark total for the game.

Backed behind big performances from Sean Pedulla and Matthew Murrell, the Ole Miss offense exploded for multiple scoring runs that made a three-point lead late in the first half balloon up to 32 by the end of the contest. Ole Miss finished the game shooting 54% from the field. Joining Murrell and Pedulla, Jaemyn Brakefield (13), Davon Barnes (13) and Mikeal Brown-Jones (12) also finished in double figures.

After going down 5-1 early in the contest, Chris Beard’s Rebel offense turned it on with an immediate 18-2 run to take the lead. While Oral Roberts made it close, they were never able to get Ole Miss to surrender the lead from that moment on. The Rebel defense found its form in the second half allowing only 28 points while continuing their offensive success.

With the win, Ole Miss improves to 5-0 on the season. Oral Roberts’ record now sits at 2-4. The Rebels currently own the longest active non-conference winning streak in college basketball. After tonight, Ole Miss travels to San Diego to take on BYU in the opening round of the 2024 Rady Children’s Invitational Tournament.

Matthew Murrell Gets Back To Form

When Ole Miss guard Matthew Murrell decided to return after testing the NBA Draft waters, he immediately became the biggest scoring threat on this Ole Miss roster. His 16.2 points per game (PPG) were 11th in the SEC last season and despite the influx of talent that Ole Miss brought in, no one expected Murrell to start the season slowly.

In his first three games of the season, Murrell averaged 9.7 PPG. The fifth-year senior was cold to start the season after posting a shooting slash of .357|.300|.667 in those initial games. Those numbers were more akin to his junior year FG and 3pt%.

However, Thursday night we saw a look at last year’s version of Murrell. In this game, though, we saw Murrell really get going in the mid-range. He started the game with a look coming off of a pin-down screen as part of an initial 18-2 run early in the game. He also knocked down a floater a step or two inside the free throw line in the first half. Late in the game, he also ran a curl towards the inbounding baseline for a BLOB (baseline out of bounds) set.

Those initial midrange opportunities paid dividends as one of the best perimeter shooters in the SEC got some clean looks from deep, some of these coming in transition but others off of paint touches that (with relocation) equal open opportunities. Murrell started attacking off these, as well, including one transition drive that came off an early swing and a drag screen by Malik Dia that resulted in a foul for easy points from the line.

On the day, Murrell logged a season-high 19 points on 7-14 shooting and 2-6 from three. Murrell also added four assists in an all-around effort. As Murrell often doesn’t get enough credit for, he also added three steals on the defensive ends. If Ole Miss is going to have success this season, Murrell needs to play efficient basketball and continuously knock down looks off movement.

Turnovers Tell the Story….

And they have all year long. Prior to tonight’s game, Ole Miss was fourth in the SEC forcing opponents to commit 16.75 turnovers per game. Tonight, the Rebels turned it up a notch, forcing 21 turnovers. It’s not only that turnovers stop a possession from an opponent but it can also create swings in the game.

Ole Miss racked up 37 points off turnovers in this one. The defense tallied 13 steals and always played with active hands. Sean Pedulla led Ole Miss with five steals. If the start Pedulla has is sustainable, it may be possible he sees his name mentioned as one of the best defensive guards in the SEC. The Rebels play on and up the line looking to jump passing lanes to turn things the other way. It doesn’t always equate, but Ole Miss did have 18 points in transition, some of which can be attributed to force turnovers.

The turnover story goes both ways. As good as a Chris Beard/Mark Adams defense is, the Rebels also have to worry about turnovers on the offensive end. Tonight, Ole Miss took care of the ball. As a result, the Rebels ended the game with a +13 turnover margin. While Ole Miss was able to score the above-mentioned 37 points off turnovers, Oral Roberts only scored 4. That’s a +33 margin for a game that the Rebels won by 32 points.

Mikeal Brown-Jones Settling Into The Next Level

As I like to mention, Ole Miss has some of the most productive players in CBB on it’s roster. A lot of their incoming players from this past offseason were primary scorers at their previous stops. The big challenge was finding ways for these guys to adapt to a new style of play and finding the right fit to make this Ole Miss team better. Let’s call it a “what can I do to help win” mindset. Now having that scoring diversity is a positive in itself; however, this challenge has a curve to it.

One player who is starting to understand and navigate that curve is forward Mikeal Brown-Jones. After averaging 18.9 PPG at UNC-Greensboro a year ago, Brown-Jones has had to find his way to minutes for Ole Miss. Last year, Brown-Jones averaged 11+ field goal attempts a game, but he didn’t reach 11 attempts in his first three games at Ole Miss combined. The 6-foot-8 forward has made a name for himself with his rebounding and energy level on the court. Doing a lot of the motor things like rebounding, intensity, running the court, defense, and physicality has made him valuable on the court while the scoring finds its way.

That scoring is now starting to come together for Brown-Jones at Ole Miss. After logging 15 total minutes in his first two games, Brown-Jones has now played 12+ minutes in the last three games and started against Oral Roberts after his 14-point performance in 12 minutes of work against Colorado State. Thursday night, Brown-Jones had a similar outing with 12 points, 3 rebounds, an assist and a block in 16 minutes. Ole Miss rotated and played its depth a lot, so that figure could also be misleading. The Rebels looked at Brown-Jones early in this one to set up an inside-out approach. He had back-to-back early buckets off face-ups with one rip-through to the baseline for a reverse that got Ole Miss the lead back in the first half. The Rebels were really comfortable letting him operate in these settings especially on mismatches even if the outcome wasn’t always the best.

Seeing two performances in a row of this magnitude, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Brown-Jones’ minutes continue to increase as the mismatch forward’s quickness and power continues to be a tough blend for defenses to handle.

Next Up:

Ole Miss returns to action next Thursday, Nov. 28 in San Diego for a matchup against 4-0 BYU. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. CT in round one of the Rady Children’s Invitational.