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Chris Beard brutally honest that Alabama win 'means nothing to me' in complete picture of rebuild

On3 imageby:Sam Gillenwaterabout 12 hours

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Ole Miss HC Chris Beard
Will McLelland | Imagn Images

Although just earning the biggest win of his tenure in Oxford and the biggest road win in Rebel history, Ole Miss’ Chris Beard didn’t see it as too significant.

Beard minimized the meaning of the 74-64 win for No. 21 Ole Miss at No. 4 Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Tuesday. To him, the first away win for the program over a top-five opponent was nothing more than a fourth victory in as many games for them to open conference play.

“In my mind, it’s not (monumental),” Beard said postgame. “This was the fourth SEC game…Tonight was a good SEC road win. No doubt about it.”

Ole Miss went to ‘Bama and held the top offense in the nation to their lowest point total of the season of 64 points and fewest since the Sweet 16 in 2023. They held them to 42.6% shooting from the field and 25% from three with only five makes from distance while also forcing 21 turnovers by the Tide.

The Rebels then had five of their nine go on to score in double figures, including a career night with a double-double from Malik Dia (23 points, 19 rebounds).

This was a massive win for Ole Miss as it turned a three-way tie into a two-way one between them and Auburn, the No. 1 team in the country, for the top spot in the SEC at 4-0. Still, Beard still has bigger plans for this season and his tenure than what they’re doing right now.

“We’re trying to put ourselves in position to win every night, execute a game plan,” said Beard. “The whole ‘this is the first time’? I mean, you know, when you get a job, you go in the arena and, when you don’t see a Final Four banner, then you say we’re going to have to do some firsts around here. So, that stuff really means nothing to me.”

“Not to disrespect the question but we didn’t come here to win a game in January. We came here to be one of those teams, you know, that has a chance to win six games in March in three weekends,” Beard said. “So, long ways to go.”

There’s more for Ole Miss to do moving forward from their first ranked win of the season and under Beard. That starts with two more opportunities against rated opponents next, including in their own state this weekend against No. 15 Mississippi State in The Hump.