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'I feel like we're right there': Amaree Abram can 'smell' Ole Miss getting its first SEC win

11by:Jake Thompson•01/16/23•

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Ole Miss freshman guard Amaree Abram can 'smell' the Rebels first SEC win coming. (Photo by Bruce Newman)

The Ole Miss men’s basketball team had yet another possible first Southeastern Conference win of the season slip through their fingers on Saturday after Georgia rallied for the 62-58 victory.

When the Rebels take the floor on Tuesday at South Carolina it will be a month since they last won a game, defeating Temple at home. The losses are piling up and Ole Miss is still winless in the SEC, the last of 14 teams still searching for its first conference win.

Head coach Kermit Davis noted in his post game press conference on Saturday that he had a “hurt” locker room, which is the first mention that the six-game losing streak might be starting to take an emotional toll.

Freshman guard Amaree Abram also acknowledged as much.

“Very emotionally draining,” Abram said after Saturday’s loss. “We got to stay together. Stay as a team and just work every day and we’ll eventually get a win.”

Abram is one of many new faces on the Ole Miss team this season that came from a winning program a year ago, either at the high school level or a previous college program.

Being a part of a team that is struggling like the Rebels (8-9, 0-5 SEC) after a 6-0 start to the year is becoming hard for some players to grasp. Ole Miss has gone 2-9 since winning its first two games in Orlando at the ESPN Events Invitational over Thanksgiving weekend.

Related: Ole Miss men’s basketball searching for answers to end SEC losing skid

Abram is also another Ole Miss player that is saying the right things and one of the voices trying to keep the locker room together.

There have been games where the Rebels were leading in the second half and unable to close the deal. The SEC opener against a Top 10 Tennessee team as well as on the road at Mississippi State, at home against Auburn and the Georgia game.

Being that close, or showing they can be competitive is what Abram is hanging his hat on when looking ahead towards the rest of the regular season.

“I just feel like we’re right there,” Abram said. “We’ve seen it. We work hard every day. I can smell we’re going to get a win. Just got to stay confident and can’t let something like this just beat you down.

“I’ve never been this much into a deep state of losing. But, I’ve been in my career where I’ve lost a couple games so I know this feels to lose and it’s not good. We’re going to keep fighting, going to keep pushing every day.”

Sophomore guard Daeshun Ruffin was unavailable against Georgia due to an illness, according to the team, which allowed Abram to have significant playing time. It was the most time Abram has spent on the floor since Ruffin returned from injury last month.

In 30 minutes of action Abram finished with 12 points, five assists and two rebounds.

Ole Miss is schedule play at South Carolina (8-9, 1-3) at 5:30 p.m. CT on Tuesday the SEC Network.

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