Ole Miss basketball didn’t have its 3-ball but still outlasted stubborn Grambling 

The Ole Miss men’s basketball team hosted Grambling, an NCAA Tournament team a year ago, in The Pavilion Friday night. 

The Rebels eventually moved to 2-0 on the season. But they had to brush off a horrid first half of shooting, which resulted in a 33-25 halftime lead for the Tigers.

Grambling secured the lead with a 13-0 run late in the half. Ole Miss matched that and then some in the second. 

The Rebels put together with a 20-0 run of their own to move ahead of the visitors 47-39 midway through the second half.

“I’m pleased we got a win tonight,” second-year Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard said. “We didn’t play well, but Grambling had a lot to do with it. They went to the NCAA Tournament last year and have a tough team. We knew that coming in, but it was hard to get that point across.”

The crowd, mostly propped up — again — by the student section, didn’t have a lot to get fired up about in the first 20 minutes.

They came alive during the comeback. 

The Rebels never looked back once they gained the lead, even as stubborn Grambling stayed close and refused to fold up shop. The Rebels eventually pulled out the close win, 66-64.

“Grambling is the story tonight,” Beard said. “They had seven returning players from their tourney team and they were tough. I was not pleased with the way we played for 40 minutes, but I was pleased with the win.”

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Beard mixed defenses and threw in a half-court press here and there to throw Grambling off just enough for the Rebels to get in an offensive rhythm.

Seton Hall transfer Dre Davis was the first to spark the Rebels.

His inside bucket and subsequent 3-pointer cut the lead to 39-35. Sean Pedulla — another transfer, but from Virginia Tech — and forward Jaemyn Brakefield each had two buckets to give Ole Miss its first lead of the game at 40-39 with 13:39 to go. Brakefield is one of six returners from last year’s 20-win team. He’s one of 10 seniors.

Ole Miss stretched the advantage of 47-39 to cap the 20-point unanswered run. But Grambling didn’t go away quietly. 

The Tigers plugged away and kept within striking distance. An and-one at 4:36 cut the Ole Miss lead to 58-54. Grambling matched Ole Miss’ length. The Tigers actually out-rebounded the Rebels most of the game. 

But they also had three times as many turnovers — probably the biggest factor in the final outcome. Ole Miss also generated almost 20 more shots from the floor than Grambling.

“Their rim protection affected our game tonight,” Beard said. “They were long and did well inside defensively. Our 20-0 run was very good, but they had a run too and hung in there until the very end.”

Another three-pointer by the Tigers cut the score to 58-57 with 3:10 remaining. 

Sam Houston transfer Davon Barnes sank a put-back on a missed shot. Brakefield followed with breakaway dunk to give Ole Miss a five-point cushion (62-57) with 1:44 left.

Again, Grambling struck back. The Tigers got a layup at 1:04 to make it 62-59, Ole Miss, with 39 left. JuJu Murray had been a bit quiet offensively. However, he stepped up when the Rebels needed him most. Matthew Murrell had a rare, 0-3 night from the free throw line. 

Murray hit a pair of free throws for a 64-59 margin. Grambling canned a pair of freebies to cut it to one (64-63). Murray ended things with a pair of freebies for the final.

“We had some undisciplined fouls and we have a lot to clean up,” Beard said. “But I’m very happy with the win. We turned them over a lot and had good ball security and that was a big difference in the game.

“The three ball (6-26) was not going down like I think we will hit them in most games. But the turnover margin with us turning them over 22 times and us having good ball security was probably the difference.”