Ole Miss men's basketball ends opening homestand against Charleston Southern

On3 imageby:Jake Thompson11/11/21

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Before an early-season road trip to Charleston, S.C., the Ole Miss men’s basketball team will conclude their two-game opening homestand against Charleston Southern on Friday.

The Rebels defeated New Orleans 82-61 in the season opener on Tuesday, but there were still issues carried over from the Trevecca that still need addressing.

Another slow start created an early deficit for the Rebels (1-0) against the Privateers. But, the defense improved and by halftime, Ole Miss had created a decent lead.

A quicker start is needed on Friday against the Buccaneers (1-0), but the Rebels will be doing it without a key freshman on the floor. McDonald’s All-American Daeshun Ruffin fractured his hand in the second half against New Orleans and will be out for four weeks, the school announced on Thursday.

No surgery is needed for Ruffin, who continued to play in the game and also took a shot to his head on a layup later in the second half. Ruffin played 15 minutes and finished with four points and two rebounds in his debut.

“(Ruffin’s) fast, fast with the ball. As fast as anybody,” Davis said after Tuesday’s game. “Now the thing of playing against, length. He’s got to do that. What he can really do is shoot it. He hadn’t done that yet but he will. He’s just a freshman that’s getting his feet wet.”

With Ruffin out until the Dec. 11 game against Western Kentucky, at the earliest, The Rebels will rely on other newcomers to contribute.

Transfer Tye Fagan is one of those newcomers. Fagan transferred from Georgia after three seasons and is still adjusting to how Davis’ pace of play.

“It’s not even close,” Fagan said of comparing the tempo at Ole Miss to his time at Georgia. “It’s not the same. I feel like here, we play a lot faster than I’m used to. I kind of adapted pretty fast. I picked it up in the summer. My first day I was like, ‘Oh my god.’ I thought I’d been playing with pace the past three years but like it’s just different with coach Davis.”

Charleston Southern opened up their season on Tuesday with a 118-71 win over Johnson & Wales. The Rebels and Buccaneers will tip off at 6 p.m. CT on SECN+

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