Chris Beard suggests Tennessee could be the best team in college basketball

In their final home game of the regular season, the Ole Miss Rebels were able to upset the Tennessee Volunteers on Wednesday. It was a game that head coach Chris Beard knew was always going to be a challenge, especially with the amount of respect he has for the Volunteers as a team.

After the game, Beard praised how his team played tough, especially rebounding the basketball. In doing so, he highlighted just how good Tennessee has been this season, even suggesting that the Volunteers could be the best team in all of college basketball.

“I think the basketball game when Tennessee shoots like that and has balanced three-point shooting,” Beard said. “I think they’ll be a tough out in the six-game [NCAA] tournament. How did we overcome that? We overcome it by rebounding. 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 ‘cause I still think it can turn into a strength. Our journey started this season with a closed-door scrimmage against the best rebounding team in college basketball. We held our own that Saturday afternoon in Baton Rouge. We always thought it would kind of be a weapon for us, but it hasn’t played out that way.”

While Tennessee had a better night shooting than Ole Miss did, Beard saw his team outrebound the Volunteers. That includes grabbing seven more offensive rebounds for second-chance points. On top of that, they won the turnover battle, making for the difference in what turned out to be a 78-76 win.

“But when we needed it most tonight on Senior Night, last home game, we out-rebounded a quality opponent,” Beard said. “Fifteen offensive rebounds was how we combatted the fact they were shooting the three so well.”

What is particularly impressive about that goes back to how good Tennessee has been this season. At 24-6 overall, the Volunteers entered the game having won seven out of their last eight, including against some of the SEC’s best teams. So, it’s no surprise that Beard looks at Tennessee as arguably the best team in the country.

“You’ve got to recognize our ball security tonight, too. We had five turnovers in the game against a Coach [Rick] Barnes-coached team. That’s unheard of. Only two turnovers in the second half. All these things had to come into play for us to have a chance to win a one-possession game against the team I think is maybe the best team in college basketball,” Beard said.

“We all understand Tennessee was No. 1 for a long time. They had a little bit of a hiccup in early SEC play, which is understandable. We understand how good the league is. I think they’ve won seven of eight or eight of nine 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 Auburn winning our league or this team. Tennessee is kind of quiet right now, but let’s don’t forget this was the No. 1 team in the country for a long time, has got a Hall of Fame coach, several all-conference players, a couple of NBA guys.”

For Ole Miss, it was a massive win. Trying to finish the season strong, Ole Miss has now won two games in a row after a difficult three-game stretch. That puts the Rebels at 21-9 overall this season, looking to build momentum into the postseason.

“Back to Ole Miss, it took a team effort,” Beard said. “It took balanced scoring. Dre Davis’ double-double, timely offensive rebounds. [Jaemyn] Brakefield played really well, with a lot of courage down the stretch. 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. We held our own. I’ll say that, we held our own.”

Ole Miss has one more game left this regular season. That game will be played on Saturday against an excellent Florida Gators team. With a win, Ole Miss would still have a shot at the four-seed in the SEC Tournament, though it is a longshot. With a loss, they could slip all the way to the eighth seed.