Everything Ole Miss coach Chris Beard had to say ahead of Arkansas

No. 22 Ole Miss has its first SEC road trip of the 2024-25 season Wednesday at Arkansas. 

Tipoff is 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2. The Rebels (12-2, 1-0 SEC) are coming off a 63-51 win over Georgia last weekend. They’re currently projected as a 7-seed in the NCAA Tournament by ESPN. 

Second-year head coach Chris Beard held a press conference this week to preview the game, as well as evaluate the Rebels’ work thus far. 

Ole Miss owns the nation’s second-toughest remaining schedule, per ESPN’s Basketball Power Index. The John-Calipari-led Razorbacks (11-3, 0-1) are NET no. 41 (Ole Miss is No. 30) and receiving votes in the AP and Coaches Top 25 polls despite their SEC-opening loss to top-ranked Tennessee.

Here’s everything Beard had to say.

ON THE WIN OVER GEORGIA

BEARD: Better defensive effort, for sure. Georgia is a good offensive team. Halfway through the season to hold those guys to 51 points and a low field-goal percentage … we did a lot of good things defensively. In the Memphis game just too many runs. We played some good defense in that game, too, but too many four-minute segments where we weren’t.

ON ARKANSAS

BEARD: I would say even though it’s coach Cal’s first year at Arkansas the team and the roster has his DNA all over it. Got talented players and guys on his team that’ll play in the NBA. Got a balance between veterans — mostly portal guys — and then some young talent. Athletic. Definitely the ability to play off the dribble and get downhill. 

Defensively three legitimate shot-blockers on this Arkansas team. You watch the team play (and) looks like a coach Cal team, even though it’s their first year. Definitely got to have strategy with their length and size. Legitimate size and athleticism around the basket. That’s a focal point of the game plan — when to help, when not to help, when to stay connected and when to be in rotations.

ON WHERE THE REBELS CAN IMPROVE

BEARD: In terms of pace of play, we’ve just got to get to the point where our offense helps our defense and our defense helps our offense. There’s different tempos to play depending on where you’re playing and who you’re playing and time and score. We’re trying to get our guys to understand our pace is dictated a lot by what’s going on within the game.

ON THE SEC AS COLLEGE BASKETBALL’S TOUGHEST LEAGUE

BEARD: Very similar to when I was in the Big 12 for all those years. One thing about this league is you’ve got to kind of have a short-term memory after a win or a loss. Got to kind of stay the course. I would argue every team’s going to have some ups and downs. It’s going to be the teams that are probably most consistent that have a chance to be competitive as the conference race goes on. With that in mind, there’s a poise and maturity and understanding that each game is going to bring a different opportunity. Very similar to some other leagues we’ve coached in the past. It’s a very physical league. I don’t envy the job the officials have in this league.

Years ago you thought of the SEC as an athletic league, which it still is, but the physicality matches the athleticism every night. Not an easy league to officiate or compete in. Literally on every possession there’s something going on with physical contact. One thing we try to explain to our guys is it’s going to be a physical battle each game. You’ve got to seek contact and demand fouls and be disciplined in big moments. That’s two things with the SEC this year, in my opinion.

ON POINTS OF EMPHASIS FOR OFFICIATING THIS SEASON

BEARD: This year no real focal point, just reminders of what they’re looking for. Obviously a couple years ago the block/charge was a big one. Trying to eliminate basically charges from college basketball. Couple years before that it was freedom of movement on cutters. 

This year, to my knowledge, there were no major rule changes. Post defense is always an area of concern, but this year no focal point. In our league it’s about trying to be disciplined and show our hands on drives. Understand the physicality every time a shot goes up in an SEC game. There’s some pushing, there’s some pulling. So, we’ve talked a lot to our guys about controlling what we can control.

MORE ON OFFICIATING, AN ISSUE AGAINST GEORGIA

BEARD: I really do recognize the officiating in this league is really good. I’ve coached in some leagues where that wasn’t always the case. Those guys got a hard job. From a coaching standpoint, all we really ask for is consistency. But so far, so good with that.