WATCH: Caldwell on the mend for road-tripping Ole Miss basketball Rebels
Most everything went right for Ole Miss basketball in a slump-busting win over Arkansas on Wednesday.
MOST everything. Not all, unfortunately.
Second-year guard TJ Caldwell rolled his ankle early on and was lost for the rest of the game with the injury. However, Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard said Thursday he anticipated Caldwell being available for the Rebels’ road showdown at Texas A&M.
Ole Miss (16-3, 3-3 SEC) tips off against the Aggies (12-7, 3-3) in College Station on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
“Some positives this morning in terms of how it did since last night with the swelling and stuff,” Beard said. “TJ has put a lot of time in the training room. We have a lot of time between now and Saturday night. He’s made good strides in the first 15-18 hours. I’m hoping he’ll play.”
Caldwell has appeared in all 19 games for the Rebels this season.
He’s averaging 5.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists. He’s made 37.6 percent of his field goals and 35.1 percent of his threes.
The 6-foot-4, 190-pound Caldwell had two points and a rebound in his four minutes of the 77-51 win over Arkansas. Ole Miss set a student attendance record in the win. The Rebels are riding a program-high win streak (11) at the SJB Pavilion.
“It’s no secret; it’s just a pretty cool time to be an Ole Miss Rebel,” Beard said.
Beard is in his debut Ole Miss season.
He’s attempting to make the Rebels the fourth separate team he’s lead to the NCAA Tournament since 2016. The Rebels have been just nine times in their 100-plus-year history, including their last appearance in 2018-19.
Beard continued, “What football’s done, coach Yo(lett McPhee-McCuin) and women’s basketball, baseball and the Olympic sports, there’s just a lot of really good things going on campus right now.
“I think we benefit from that.”
Ole Miss is one of just three FBS programs in the country to open the basketball season 10-0 and also win at least 10 games in football. The others are James Madison and Oklahoma. Lane Kiffin’s No. 11-ranked football Rebels took down No. 10 Penn State, 38-25, in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl back in December.
