TJ’s Takeaways: Ole Miss Defense Makes a Statement as Rebels Open SEC Play with 63-51 Win Over Georgia

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 offers 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. — The Ole Miss defense made a statement to start its conference slate Saturday.

One week after giving up a season-high 87 points to Memphis, head coach Chris Beard’s team responded by making a statement in holding Georgia to 53 points. The total was the second-fewest a team has scored on the Rebels all season (Southern Miss: 46). Ole Miss forced 15 Georgia turnovers and held the Bulldogs to 29.4% from the field. Prior to today’s contest, Georgia had the fourth-highest FG% in the SEC at 50.67%.

With a physical and close game in the first half that saw Georgia hold a slim lead, it was Sean Pedulla who created the early offense for Ole Miss. The guard added seven points in the first five minutes of the contest to assist the Rebels in jumping out to an early lead. Points in the paint would aid the comeback for Georgia who took the lead heading into half after a Silas Demary Jr. layup gave the Bulldogs the 28-26 edge going in to intermission.

Ole Miss found a groove in the second with an uptick in rebounding and intensity. The Rebels started the second half with an 11-2 run that would not only give Ole Miss the lead, but propel it to double digits. It was the veteran presence of Matthew Murrell, Jaemyn Brakefield, and Dre Davis that kick-started the scoring effort. Georgia went on a run of its own to bring it back to a one-score game before Ole Miss regained its defensive footing and added another 11-2 run to basically close out the game.

The Rebels finished the game shooting 41% from the field on 21-51 shooting. As a group, Ole Miss found its form from the perimeter, knocking down 6-of-16 for a 38% clip. The duo of Jaemyn Brakefield and Matthew Murrell led Ole Miss with 15 points apiece. Dre Davis added 9 points, while the trio of Pedulla, Malik Dia, and Davon Barnes each added 7. Dia also added 7 rebounds in the effort to lead the team.

For now, the game can be counted as a key win to start SEC play. With the win, Ole Miss’ record now sits at 12-2 overall and 1-0 in SEC play. Georgia also sits at 12-2 (0-1) with the outcome of Saturday’s matchup.

Shakeup to the Starting Lineup

This wasn’t the first time we’ve seen Chris Beard shake things up this season. It also isn’t the first time Ole Miss wing Davon Barnes has been in the starting lineup. Barnes has been in the lineup a few times — especially while Matthew Murrell was dealing with an injury to his lower body. This was the first time that Ole Miss guard Jaylen “JuJu” Murray wasn’t in the starting lineup.

Murray came off the bench against Georiga, playing a role with 22 minutes of action. The decision to start Barnes proved fruitful as his size and versatility on the defensive end aided the Ole Miss effort. Georgia has a taller backcourt with multiple guards standing between 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-5. Barnes added 7 points on 2-6 shooting while adding six rebounds and two assists. He also added a steal on the defensive end.

We’ll see whether Coach Beard continues to scale his lineups based on opponents or not. For today, though, it was the right decision and showed a lot of promise for that versatility that Beard has been preaching since he arrived on campus.

Beard did address the decision in the press conference, saying: “It was a team decision, I’ll leave it at that.”

Battle on the Boards

In the postgame press conference, Coach Beard was asked about the rebounding performance, and he praised his confidence in his players. Rebounding has been an issue for Ole Miss, and we continued to see that issue in the first half of Saturday’s contest where Georgia out-rebounded Ole Miss, 20-14. As part of that, Georgia grabbed eight offensive rebounds that led to 10 second-chance points. The Bulldogs controlled the paint as 16 of their 28 first-half points came in the paint.

However, this was a tale of two halves as Ole Miss came out with a fire lit under themselves in the second. There was a larger emphasis on the glass as Ole Miss out-rebounded Georgia 21-14 in the second half. That gave them the rebounding battle, 35-34, for the contest. As part of that, Georgia only scored eight points in the paint. This emphasis was crucial as the defense thwarted the efficient Georgia scoring attack. Ole Miss’ two 11-2 runs in the second half don’t happen if the Rebels can’t keep Georgia out of the paint. Both Ole Miss and Georgia were looking to get to the paint, Ole Miss off the bounce and Georgia with its size. In the first half, Georgia won that, but it switched in the second half to Ole Miss.

With the way the Rebels’ roster is constructed, it has to be a team effort to win the battle on the glass. Dia provided a solid effort with seven rebounds. Both Matthew Murrell and Davon Barnes added six rebounds, as well. There were not a lot of minutes from Mikeal Brown-Jones in the game, so that emphasis to rebound was heightened. To see Ole Miss able to rebound in the SEC should create a new standard for this group.

Matthew Murrell Returns to Form

Ole Miss’ star guard was starting to get going before being sidelined in December with a lower-body injury. When he returned against Queens, Murrell scored 10 points but still looked to be dealing with the injury as he only played 23 minutes. Against Memphis, Murrell played 30 minutes and had a rough outing, scoring only seven points on 3-11 shooting. For reference, Murrell has averaged over 30 minutes a game for the past two seasons.

In Saturday’s game we saw a much fresher-looking Matthew Murrell, a two-way sharpshooter who was very active coming off of motion. Murrell finished with the aforementioned 15 points, which is his third highest outing of the season, and he reached 15 points on the fewest attempts of the season with eight. We saw an early mid-range jumpshot with Murrell curling off a down screen. He knocked down a long-two and facilitated with 3 assists.

One of the challenges for Ole Miss this season has been navigating a new roster with a lot of players who were known for scoring the basketball. Identifying and fitting into new roles is a challenge for any team in today’s college basketball landscape, and Ole Miss was no stranger to that. However, having one of your leaders sidelined for a portion of that time in the non-conference when this gelling is occurring can be a detriment to a team. To see Murrell back in form, but also providing an efficient outing, is a good step forward for this group. Time will tell, but we can expect Murrell to continue to slowly get more and more attempts. Ole Miss was going to have to reinvent itself if Murrell’s injury lingered, so in the gauntlet that is the SEC this year, his return came at a pretty good time for a Rebel team looking to continue to climb up the rankings in the SEC and the Associated Press poll.

Next Up: 

Ole Miss travels to Fayetteville to play Arkansas on Wednesday, January 8. Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN 2.