Chris Beard credits Ole Miss for not quitting in LSU loss
Not much went right for Ole Miss on Wednesday night at LSU. The Rebels trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half, before falling 89-80 to the Tigers. Ole Miss coach Chris Beard was disappointed with his team’s play overall, but there was one aspect of the game he was pleased with.
After falling behind 64-48 with less than 10 minutes left, the Rebels battled back and gave themselves a chance late, before falling short. Beard liked what he saw from his team as far as effort during the run.
“On a night where there weren’t many positives for us, I did think we gave ourselves a chance late,” Chris Beard said. “I think we cut it to a two-possession game with under two minutes left where we didn’t have to foul. That was a big possession for us. If we get a stop there, I think we put a little bit of pressure on LSU to make a couple of plays to beat us.”
The Rebels trailed 77-72 with 1:41 left, but after running the shot clock down to the end, Mike Williams drilled a 3-pointer for LSU to push the lead back to eight. For all intents and purposes, the game was over at that point. LSU made its free throws down the stretch to secure the win.
“We didn’t get the stop there – like a missed switch and gave up a 3. But I did think we had a little bit of fight in us, which was good to see,” Beard said.
“It’s a long season. You’re going to be in games like this where you don’t play your best. The objective is to give yourself a chance, and we did that on a night where we didn’t do a lot of other things well. I did think the guys kept fighting and didn’t quit.”
Assessing how Chris Beard has found quick success at Ole Miss
Despite the loss to LSU earlier this week, Ole Miss is off to a solid start under Chris Beard overall.
Ole Miss entered SEC play as the only league team to go undefeated during non-conference action.
On3’s Joe Tipton joined Andy Staples to discuss the success Beard has seen through the first half of the college basketball season and how he’s been able to turn the Rebels’ program around so swiftly.
“Well, first he got talent. He got guys in the in the transfer portal,” Tipton told Staples. “He got lucky on a couple guys — Brandon Murray, Moussa Cisse, two-time transfers that weren’t playing until the NCAA started to allow the two time guys [to play], and so he acquired talent.
“He’s just a really good coach. There’s no denying that you can say what you want about him off the court, but he wins. He’s done it at every place he’s ever been. He brought Texas Tech to a Final Four. I mean, even Ole Miss — they’ve won 15 games so far this season. We’re only in mid January. Last year Kermit Davis only won 13 [games] on the entire year. They’ve already surpassed what they did last year.”