TRANSCRIPT: Coach Chris Beard, Jaemyn Brakefield and Matthew Murrell talk about Ole Miss’ win over No. 4 Tennessee

OXFORD, Miss. — Oh, what a night! In the final regular season game of the year at the SJB Pavilion, the Ole Miss men’s basketball team (21-9, 10-7 SEC) earned a historic win over No. 4 Tennessee (24-6, 11-6 SEC), 78-76, Wednesday night.

The Rebels were led by Jaemyn Brakefield who scored 19 points, all coming in the second half, on Senior Night.

Coach Chris Beard, Jaemyn Brakefield, and Matthew Murrell spoke with media after the game. Here’s everything they said.

Coach Beard’s Opening Statement:

“The last home game of the season in the Pavilion and just reflecting quickly, like the last two seasons have been special. What we’re building, got to have the biggest increase in attendance, both students and overall, if not the best, one of the best in the country. So it never gets old thanking everybody. Students came out tonight. There’s a lot of fun having them in the arena. And season ticket holders, a big-time thank you again for year two, buying the tickets, showing up in force and a major improvement this year filling the seats every single night. So thank you. Just just happy for the guys. We got a lot of basketball left, so this wasn’t like an emotional day of senior day. We didn’t really say much about it. I had a quick moment with each of our nine seniors before the game, but those things will be said later on. But these two guys to my left (Jaemyn Brakefield and Matthew Murrell), they mean the world to me, and they mean the world to Ole Miss. You know, coaching changes are hard. For both these guys to trust us two years ago where they both had options and then for both to come back there last year, I’m extremely personally thankful. I know I speak for everybody at Ole Miss. Brakefield and Matt, just two guys that their value for our program go far beyond the stat sheet. Two guys that have bought in from day one, so I just want to thank these guys publicly on Senior Night. Any questions for these two guys about the basketball game?”

Question: Jaemyn, it’s your last home game. You have this performance. All 19 of your points in the second half. You get the game winning tip in. Could you have written this any better.

Jaemyn: I didn’t write it. God did.

Question: Just for both of y’all that are willing to answer. When y’all first came here, you know the attendance was what it was. But then to have a moment like that, you know, especially in y’all’s last home game here, does that just seem just fitting across the board?

Matthew: Yeah. For sure. Just, the preparation that we put in throughout the week, I thought we had a great week. It’s crazy because me and Matt actually was bumping heads the other day. but it was great confrontation, just knowing that we all got to get on the same page and that at the end of the day, both me and him wanted to win not only for ourselves, but for Oxford in general.

Question: Jaemyn, you tweeted yesterday this was going to be an emotional day for you, your last game in this building. Do you have any idea would go like this?

Jaemyn: Not at all. Not at all. I was just soaking everything in. Obviously, it’s like the last time playing here, so I just know, like, I started getting emotional early, just like in practice. You know, it’s just, you want to start gathering every teammate up now, just just trying to soak all the reps in the time that you have spent with them, because some day it’s going to end. It’s not over for us, but some day it’s going to end. So just just trying to live where my feet are.

Question: Jaemyn, you kind of took over last seven, eight minutes. Was there a matchup that you got? Did you just kind of feel it? What was that about?

Jaemyn: Yeah, it was just the confidence that was poured into me by the by the men around me. Just, you know, they know that as a team, we are prepared and that they’ve gotten me ready. So just knowing they trusted me. And in those moments, I trusted that they trusted me as well.

Question: Matt, everything that you’ve been going through and dealing with and battling through, what does this game mean for you tonight?

Matthew: Man, just especially what I’ve been through the past five years just to be able to share this moment, you know, with my team and especially this guy right here (Brakefield), he’s been through through it with me most of the journey, for four years. So just to be able to share this moment, you know, last game in the Pavilion, to be able to get a top five win. And on the home court, it’s a very special moment.

Question: Jaemyn, you’re a guy from Mississippi. How special is it to, you know, represent your home state and win a top five game in your last match up here?

Jaemyn: Yeah, it just shows that Ole Miss is here and we’re here to stay, so we’re just trying to, like coach said, build something in Oxford. So today was no different. We had the same mindset as the last game.

Question: With that timeout with three seconds left. Can you just kind of walk me through the sequence because the timeouts.

Jaemyn: It was all surreal. I can’t even remember.

Question: What do you remember about the rebounding? Pedulla’s miss, it looked like the ball kind of hung on the rim like forever.

Jaemyn: Yeah, that’s just our game plan, just trying to rebound as a team knowing the shot went up. Just knowing who we are. Credit to Barnes, he took the ball right to me, so I couldn’t have done without him and my team.

Question: So what was your court-storm experience like, Jaemyn?

Jaemyn: It was amazing. Obviously, like I said, it feels surreal still, but, you know, did it with the guys and he (Coach Beard) found he found me in the crowd. So that hyped me up even more.

Question: Matt, So that was a pretty memorable way to leave the court, I guess the last time with so many other people. What was that experience like?

Matthew: I was trying not to get banged up anymore. I was trying to get to the outside of the huddle, you know, but it was a it was a great experience. You know, when you come to college, those moments you always want to experience, but you don’t you don’t really understand the work that it takes to experience that moment. So just to be able to share this moment with the guys, especially with Coach Beard. You know, with just all we we’ve been through, you know it’s special.

Coach Beard: Let’s say one thing about these two guys, it’s well-documented on Brake and his love of Ole Miss and Oxford and how he helped us recruit this team. And probably it’s not documented as much as it should be about Matt and the challenges he’s had this year. Just simply stated, a lot of guys wouldn’t be playing right now. But Matt cares about what’s on the front of his jersey.

These two guys have a special relationship. I’ll never forget this as coaching. We don’t let you guys in the outside in our locker room much, but, I’m proud to tell this story. I mean, yesterday in practice, these two guys, you know, had a moment with each other, an aggressive moment. Got into it a little bit, and I felt really good about that. When you got your best players and your best leaders and two guys that have a real relationship and friendship that have the ability to communicate like that, and there was no fluff about the conversation. It really inspired our practice. It inspired our game day preparation today. I don’t know if we win the game today if Matt and Brake didn’t have the courage yesterday in practice to confront each other. Both said what they had to say. Both listened. It was one of the top ten memories of my coaching career in practice, and I felt pretty good about tonight’s game because of that. You can only do that if you have a relationship with somebody, right? Like I had an older brother. We fought all the time. There’s nobody I love in the world more than my brother. And I think with Brake and Matt, it’s just, chapter 55 of their relationship together. But that was a powerful thing that happened yesterday. And that’s what you need in March. You got to shake the tree in March. You got to stay uncomfortable in March. You got to have tough conversations with your teammates in March, if ultimately you want to advance.

Question: Can you guys comment on what happened yesterday?

Brakefield: Yeah, I think it was just we were both on the same page, but we were saying two different things.

Matthew: Communicating in different ways.

Jaemyn: At the end of the day, we were all on the same page, and we were trying to get everybody else on the same page.

Question: Think that happens, if you guys don’t go through all the adversity you went through with coaching this season?

Matthew: I mean, it just shows how much we care, how much we care for our team, how much we care for the school, how bad we want to win. You know, I feel like if you don’t have conversations like that with your teammates, like it shows that you don’t really care that much to win.

Coach Beard: As a coach, you strive for those. You try to create adversity in the summer and practice in preseason. You want that. That’s the team bonding you need and you find out who’s with you and not. But for us, for it to come in March, the day before last home game, it was powerful. It was a big part of tonight’s win was these two guys elevating our preparation and practice last week and having enough trust in their relationship, that tough things can be said. And then, you know, you bounce back. You align.

Questions for Coach Beard

Question: Coach, you outrebounded Tennessee, which has been a problem all year. Also looked like you extended your defense in the second half, shut off all those open threes. Were those two factors?

Coach Beard: Yeah for sure. I think the basketball game when Tennessee shoots like that and has balanced three point shooting, I think they’ll be a tough out in the six game tournament. So how did we overcome that? And we overcome it by rebounding. You know we out rebounded a quality opponent. It’s kind of been a challenge for us all year. I’ve never said it’s a weakness because I still think it can turn into a strength. You know, our journey started this season with a closed door scrimmage against the best rebounding team in college basketball, and we held our own that Saturday afternoon in Baton Rouge. So we always thought it would kind of be a weapon for us, but it hasn’t played out that way. But when we needed it most tonight on Senior Night, last home game, we out rebounded a quality opponent. 15 offensive rebounds was how we combatted the fact that they were shooting the three so well. You got to recognize our ball security tonight, too. We had five turnovers in the game against a Coach Barnes-coached team. That’s unheard of, only two turnovers in the second half. So all these things had to come into play for us to have a chance to win a one-possession game against a team that I think, you know, is maybe the best team in college basketball.

You know, we all understand Tennessee. They were number one for a long time. They had a little bit of a hiccup in early SEC play, which is understandable because we understand how good the league is. I think they’ve won seven-of-eight or 8-of-9 coming into tonight’s game. I can’t speak for them, but they’re almost kind of in a good position where the national narrative is more on, you know, Auburn winning our league where this team, Tennessee, it’s just kind of quiet right now. But let’s don’t forget that this was the number one team in the country for a long time. Got a Hall of Fame coach, several all conference players, a couple NBA guys. So, back to Ole Miss. It took a team effort. It took balanced scoring, Dre Davis’s double-double, timely offensive rebounds, Brakefield playing really with a lot of courage down the stretch. And then we got some key stops late. I thought our coaching staff did a good job tonight. It’s always a chess game when you play against Coach Barnes and we held our own. I’ll say that, we held our own.

Question: You kind of touched on it a little bit with Dre (Davis), but I know Jaemyn will get a lot of attention, rightfully so, but you know with Dre getting that double double — what do you kind of make of just his outing tonight.

Coach Beard: Yeah. He played with courage. He played like the player we recruited and coached and taught to be. I was just really proud of of the way he competed, more than anything. We ask a lot of Dre, positionless player, guarding all five positions on offense. He had some timely baskets. He had a double-double against Tennessee on Senior Night. And so I think that speaks for itself.

Question: Jaemyn’s had a lot of different roles during his career here at Ole Miss. To see him have a moment like he had tonight, what does that mean to you as a coach?

Coach Beard: Yeah, it’s just kind of what I see every day in practice. Positionless player. We chose to go small ball down the stretch. Whenever he has a big guarding him, there’s some things he can do offensively, just like whenever he has a small forward guarding him there’s some things. So I thought Brake did a good job of not settling and recognizing the moment. And then above all, just a lot of courage. You know if you’re going to make those shots, you got to have the courage to take them. And he did tonight.

Question: Rick (Barnes) said they they they wanted Jaemyn to shoot threes and that he was kind of frustrated with his guys for kind of biting on some of the ball fakes. But was that Jaemyn being patient waiting for the guys to take the fake.

Coach Beard: Yeah, exactly. I think Brake just played a great floor game. I want break to shoot threes too. Um, but you got to find that balance. And it’s a tough job. You know whenever your best player-type-guy, like the coach is telling you to make shots, he’s telling you to move the ball. He’s telling you to be aggressive. He’s telling you not to turn it over. He’s telling you to play defense. And when you’re a veteran player, the job is not easy and a lot of it is you just got to find that balance. And I thought Brake found the balance tonight. You know, I have no problem if we have a game here in the remainder of the season where Brake shoots 7 or 8 threes because I believe he’ll make 3 or 4. But tonight he didn’t settle in big moments. And give his teammates credit, the spacing was good for the most part. There was guys passing the ball. There was guys screening for him. So it’s always a team sport. Off the top of my head, I think everybody that played for Ole Miss tonight made a positive contribution. To be in the game at halftime, I think we were down five with ten Tennessee shooting the ball so well, Mikeal Brown was a big, big part of the game tonight. We had winning minutes when he was in the game. So, just everybody on the team from my first kind of memory before I watch the tape, you know, made some winning plays for us tonight. And that’s what it takes against a one-seed type team like Tennessee. There’s no other way to be in these games unless everybody plays well. And that’s what we got tonight on a special night in Oxford.

Question: You mentioned it there, but Brown-Jones and Barnes didn’t really light up the box score tonight. What did you think about their effort overall tonight though?

Coach Beard: I thought they played great. And when you play on a veteran team like us, we’ve got six starters. We’ve got nine seniors, the box score is not always going to show the plays, the hockey assist, the assist screen, the early help. We’ve had a lot of players this year grade out some of the best games we’ve had. But the naked stat sheet doesn’t say it. And I think Mikeal and Davon played just winning basketball tonight. Barnes and Mikeal helped us. There’s no doubt about it.

Question: Coach Barnes said that you guys wanted it more. Just a couple of weeks ago, you questioned kind of questioned your team’s want to, if you will, what kind of changed over the last couple of weeks?

Coach Beard: Yeah, it’s a huge compliment coming from Coach Barnes on a night where obviously Tennessee is playing for seeding. And so that means a lot coming from him. I don’t know if we wanted it more.  I’m not an expert on their locker room, but I would say that our guys understood the opportunity that we were playing for tonight. We’ve never talked about making the tournament, I’ve mentioned that several times. Keith probably gets tired of me talking about that conversation we had, but we talk about trying to win the tournament. And to do that, seeding is important. You know, we’ve got opportunity week right here. The next game is a real opportunity to. Will it be easy? No. Will it be probable? No. I don’t know, but would it be possible in March? Anything’s possible in March.

Question: You’re 5-0 over the last month-and-a half in games, four points or less. And that was coming off a period of time where it seemed like they couldn’t get a break in a close game. What does that say about this team?

Coach Beard: Yeah, I didn’t know that. I’m really a next-game mentality. I’m not a big analytics guy, but I do value that and I understand. So we have guys on our staff that give that to me in the Big Chief tablet, watered down Cliff notes version. You guys remember Cliff notes?  Yeah. Yellow and black. Irving Bookstore, mom was not a big fan of the cliff notes. Here I go again, man. The ADD. Winning time is important. You know, you think about our season, Purdue — seven point lead under four. We’ve had some of these games at Mississippi State. We value winning time. We have a plan in winning time. We try to be not so much emotional in the timeouts, winning time. And I thought tonight the guys did a good job. We we started a little bit earlier tonight at the eight minute timeout. And in those times we’re talking about exactly what we cannot do on defense and offense and what we would like to try to do. And then we just kind of remind the guys, these are the things that we’re looking at. We started that way back in our team retreat this summer, watching a few close games on TV and showing the winning time formula that we have. Um, so I do think that we’re embracing that, this second half of the season. And ultimately, that’s what March comes down to. You know, the difference between winning a couple of close games and and losing a one possession game is a it’s an early exit or it’s a parade on the Square because you got to the second weekend.

Question: Two things I’m curious about. It looked like you were standing on the bench as the crowd started storming. I was curious if you got a chance to reflect on that moment, and then what Brake said about how you found him at court. What were those moments like for you?

Coach Beard: Yeah, I’ve been fortunate over the years to be a part of some special wins, some special Senior Nights, some special court stormings. It’s never about me. I’m normally pretty quick to the locker room, but tonight, something just kind of came over me and said, you know, ‘Just enjoy this for a quick second.’ And we’ve worked really hard here in our two years. We — a lot of people — so I just wanted to kind of smell the roses for a quick second, try to be where my feet are. I couldn’t see the players, so I stood up just so I could see the players. And I just wanted to enjoy that moment, watching those guys, because I know they work so hard to be able to compete in games like this. And the great news is we have more of them. You know, the next one’s Saturday. But I just wanted to get a good look at it.