WATCH: Ole Miss basketball won on and off the court Tuesday night
Ole Miss basketball won on and off the court Tuesday night.
The cardiac, on-floor Rebels — who’d won three of their first five games by three points or less against weaker non-conference competition — took down NC State, 72-52. They improved to 6-0 on the season and next host Memphis on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT on ESPN2.
But also mixed in was the NCAA clearance of decorated off-season transfer addition Moussa Cisse — a 7-foot, 230-pound center previously of Memphis and Oklahoma State. He’ll make his Rebel debut against his former team, the Tigers.
“We had a whole week to prepare for this game,” said senior forward Jaemyn Brakefield, who scored a career-high 25 points on 8 of 12 shooting. Brakefield is one of just four returning Rebels. The rest of their 16-man roster is made up of either transfers or freshmen.
“We came into it with a great mindset. Great week of preparation. My coaching staff gave me a lot of confidence. A lot of real one-on-one conversations, man-to-man (this week). Just knowing what I need to bring to the table. My teammates held me accountable this week.”
Ole Miss took the lead on its opening possession and never trailed.
Allen Flanigan — a transfer guard/wing from Auburn, and the son of current Ole Miss assistant Wes — recorded his second season double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Jaylen Murray, a transfer point guard from Saint Peter’s, and Matthew Murrell, in his fourth Ole Miss season, each had 12 points.
Ole Miss held NC State to 26.5 percent shooting in the second half. The Rebels entered the night ranked No. 23 in college basketball in blocks ever game (5.6). They had a season-best nine, including three apiece from Jamarion Sharp and Flanigan. Murrell had a career-best four steals.
“Wanted to take care of the basketball,” first-year Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard said in his postgame press conference. “We had a low-turnover game (7) against one one the best teams in the country at forcing turnovers. We wanted to get to the free throw line tonight and did a little bit better job (17 for 20) than the past.
“More than all, we wanted to play Ole Miss defense. To hold that opponent — a well-coached, good team — to 30 percent shooting, to me that was the game. We played great defense tonight.”
Here’s everything Beard and Brakefield had to say afterwards.
