‘We’re in a little slide’: Everything Chris Beard said after Ole Miss’ third straight SEC loss

Tamar Bates and Caleb Grill combined for 48 points on 9 for 15 from 3, as No. 22 Missouri handed No. 16 Ole Miss its third straight SEC loss on Saturday in Columbia.

The Rebels (15-5, 4-3 SEC) were without Dre Davis. Davis, a transfer from Seton Hall, warmed up and attempted to play. However, second-year head coach Chris Beard and staff opted to hold him out. He’s dealing with an upper-extremity injury.

Veteran Jaemyn Brakefield started in his place, his first of the year. He had 14 points, including a team-high nine in the first half. Matthew Murrell was limited with an injury, too, but played and had 12 points and six rebounds. Malik Dia led the Rebels with 17 and eight. 

Ole Miss returns home to host Texas (14-6, 3-4) on Wednesday. Tipoff is 8 p.m. CT on ESPN2. Here’s everything Beard said after the loss.

OPENING STATEMENT 

Beard: I just congratulate coach (Dennis) Gates and Missouri for a good, home SEC road win. Obviously a little undermanned tonight. Dre Davis didn’t play for us and Matt Murrell was a game-time decision. We knew we were going to have to have some special things going in the game being a man short. We just didn’t get it done. 

Free-throw differential was just too much to overcome. They took almost more than twice as many free throws as us. We’ll have to look at that from a coaching standpoint and a playing standpoint. But really hard to win in the SEC when the opponent shoots more than twice as many free throws as you. 

They had two special performances. I’m not great with names, but Bates and Grill had special games. Those guys go 9 for 15 from the 3-point between them. I don’t think they’ll lose many games in the SEC; those are two of the best players in the league. They had a plus performance tonight.

MORE ON THE MIZZOU OFFENSE

Beard: Missouri does a great job putting pressure on the defense. Tonight the free throw line was their best friend, and they had two special performances. Those two guys shoot the ball like that, as the opponent you’re going to have to have something special going on in the game. 

I thought our guys fought. Basically played even in the second half. We did a pretty good job late just kind of playing it to the bone, giving us a chance. Won a few games like that over the years. We just kind of hang around. Had to use our timeouts in the second half to kind of stop the bleeding. We didn’t have any late.

But, again, congratulate Missouri. They got to the free throw line tonight and had two special performances from two of the best players in the league. We didn’t get to the free throw line, and without Dre Davis and Matt Murrell not being full speed, just too much.

ON THE DIFFICULTY DEFENDING GRILL

Beard: Give those two players credit. Really good players. From our point of view we did make some mistakes. We had a couple hand-down, man-down shots. You’ve got to at least contest the shot; that’s going to lower their percentage at least a little bit. 

I would hesitate to say it was all our mistakes. We didn’t win today because Missouri was the better team. They out-rebounded us, they got to the free throw line significantly more than us, which is an indication they were the more aggressive team. Two special performances by two of the best players in the league. 

If those two guys have those games on the same night together Dennis will have some great evenings after games around here.

ON THE DIFFERENCE WITHOUT DRE DAVIS

Beard: Just one of our best players. He’s a lot like y’all’s best players. He’s somebody we really depend on on the defensive end and the offensive end. He did everything he could this week to give him a chance to play, all the way down to trying to go through pregame warm-ups. He’s just banged up right now. 

Certainly not an excuse. Every team in the country is not full-speed. But for us tonight it’s going to be a lot to overcome when, again, they get to the free throw line like they did and have two special performances on offense. That was too much to overcome for us tonight. 

I thought our guys did a good job hanging in there, though, on a night where I don’t think Missouri ever really separated on us until the end. We kept hanging around. There was some pivotal plays in the game. We got it down to four at one point and then they went on a 4 or 5-0 run. Our guys did a good job playing it all the way to the bone, all the way to the buzzer horn or whatever. 

Congratulate Missouri. I don’t think there’s a lot of teams in the league that will beat them on a night where they accomplished about four things on that stat sheet that were too hard for us to overcome. 

ON OLE MISS DROPPING THREE STRAIGHT IN THE SEC

Beard: We just stay the course. This is the SEC. A two-game winning streak and it’s free breakfast burritos in the morning and people want to throw you a parade. A two-game losing streak you feel like the sun won’t come up tomorrow. It’s a short-term memory. Just stay the course — the same thing we do after wins. We just get back to work. 

Right now we’re in a little slide. We played three of the best teams in the country, so it’s understandable in this league. We’ve just got to keep working. It’s a long season, an 18-round fight. We’ve got to play better and most importantly stay the course.

MORE ON THE BIG NIGHTS FOR BATES AND GRILL

Beard: That puts a lot of pressure on us defensively because the other three guys on the floor are good players. It’s not one of these deals where we can just talk about those two guys. Missouri has real SEC talent. They’ve got depth. Appears to me they’ve got good chemistry. I know they’ve got a great coach. 

Good home-court advantage here. When two of your best players go 10 points over their scoring average or more and the 3-point shot is like shooting on a Nerf goal when I was a kid on the back of my bedroom door it’s going to be hard. 

We’ve got to overcome it with something. We need to have a special performance. We need to get to the free throw line and out-rebound our opponent and turn our opponent over 20, 22 times. Something’s got to happen in the game to overcome how well Missouri played. 

ON MIZZOU’S REBOUNDING DOMINANCE

Beard: You’ve got some guards that are strong, physical offensive rebounders. It’s set up nice, their strategy. Guys kind of know what shot’s going up; a little bit of an advantage for the offensive rebounder. They kind of do it by committee, if I’m not mistaken. They don’t have a player averaging 12 rebounds a game. But they’ve got a lot of guys right around that — over four rebounds. They put a lot of pressure on you and can play different ways. You’re basically playing a power forward at the five-spot. He’s a special player, and then you’ve got two 7-footers you can put in the game.

It’s a good team. I think this is one of the best teams in the country. We all know about this team last year and all the adversity they had. They just kept fighting and scrapping. The DNA’s here. They’re healthy and (Gates) has depth. He’s got some good players. There’s a reason they beat Kansas at home. There’s a reason they’re off to a great start in the SEC.

So, again, congratulations to coach Gates and Missouri. They played really well. Our guys scrapped and fought. Two-possession game for a lot of the second half. We just needed that burst and we never got it.