No. 25 Ole Miss showed some of its defensive ability in win over Troy to remain undefeated

For the first time in nearly five years there was a game played inside the SJB Pavilion that featured a ranked Ole Miss men’s basketball team on Tuesday and it was another example of how this team can win in different ways.

Defense was the order of the night in No. 25 Ole Miss’ 74-53 win over Troy to improve to 11-0 on the season. The Rebels had 16 steals, eight blocks and caused Troy to commit 25 turnovers that turned into 32 points for the home squad.

What was not surprising was the play of Jamarion Sharp, who had six blocks and was a force in the paint. Sharp had his best all-around night with four points, seven rebounds and an assist to go with the blocked shots.

What might have been surprising was the defensive play by Matthew Murrell. The senior guard finished with 10 steals as well as a game-high 18 points and a pair of rebounds. Murrell noted postgame this was his first college double-double.

Murrell set a new program record for steals in a game, besting a record held by Gerald Glass since the 1988-89 season.

Ole Miss was in control for most of the game and Murrell’s defense paced the night.

“Just a team. We were out there playing hard,” Murrell said of the defensive effort. “Tried our best. Troy, a good offensive team, we know they like to run their offense. So we tried our best to speed them up and tried the players eyes and try to telegraph the passes and run through the lanes.”

The Rebels had four players finish in double figures with Jaemyn Brakefield finishing with 17 points, Jaylen Murray scored 16 points and Allen Flanigan chipped in 13 points.

Brandon Murray played his second game in an Ole Miss uniform and patience is going to be key.

After being eligible to play starting with this past Saturday’s game against California due to a court ruling and concessions by the NCAA to said ruling, Murray is still working into game shape.

The Georgetown transfer hit his first shot of the night, a three-pointer, but only added a free throw to his tally the rest of the 16 minutes on the court for four points.

Murray has been practicing with the team but had only been doing so on the scout team or secondary team prior to learning his was going to be able to play this season. Beard is understanding that getting Murray to full speed in a game will take a little time.

“I think it’s going to be a process getting Brandon back and lots of positive not only in game time but also in practice,” Beard said. “He was practicing with the team but it’s just different when all of the sudden he knew he could play. We’re starting to see an elevated performance from him in practice. …It’s just going to be a process coming back. I think his heart’s in the right place.”

Rebels were nearly not at full strength one game after getting Murray back.

Within the first two minutes of Tuesday’s game Moussa Cisse went down with an apparent injury to his right leg. Cisse was in visible pain and had to be helped to the locker room.

Cisse returned to the sideline and spent time on the exercise bike before sitting on the bench most of the second half. He had a compression sleeve or soft brace on his knee but was not icing it or in any visible pain once he returned to the Ole Miss bench.

“Preliminary stuff’s all good news. The team doctor checked (Cisse), did all the test and didn’t think there was anything structural at all,” Beard said. “Just kind of a decision to not play him in the second half but he was cleared to play. Obviously spend some time with him tonight and (Wednesday) but early signs were positive.”