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Highlights: Ole Miss made history at Alabama, even if Chris Beard doesn’t want to hear it

Ben Garrettby:Ben Garrett•about 17 hours•

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Chris Beard, Ole Miss
Chris Beard, Ole Miss - © Will McLelland-Imagn Images

No. 21 Ole Miss basketball’s win at No. 4 Alabama was historic for a number of reasons. 

Second-year head coach Chris Beard didn’t care to hear about any of them in his postgame press conference. 

Beard has more NCAA Tournament appearances by himself over an accomplished, multi-stop coaching career than the Rebels’ do in their 100-plus-year history. What’s new for Ole Miss is commonplace for him. These Rebels have bigger fish to fry, anyway.

They’re after more than a simple tournament berth.

“It’s the fourth SEC game,” Beard said. “We’re trying to put ourselves in a position to win every night and execute a game plan. The whole, ‘This is the first time,’ I mean, when you get a job and go in an arena and you don’t see a Final Four banner then you say you’re going to have to do some firsts around here. That stuff really means nothing to me. We didn’t come here to win a game in January; we came here to be one of those teams that has a chance to win six games in March and three weekends. 

“Long ways to go, but tonight was a good SEC road win, no doubt about it.”

WATCH: Postgame with Chris Beard and Malik Dia after win at No. 4 Alabama

Ole Miss forward Malik Dia (Photo credit: Ole Miss Basketball/X)

The Rebels (15-2, 4-0 SEC) next travel to in-state rival Mississippi State.

The Bulldogs are No. 14 in the nation. However, they’re coming off a 22-point loss to top-ranked Auburn. 

The Rebels will get to Mississippi State when the time’s right. What’s gotten the Rebels here — already one of the best seasons of the modern era — is their strict focus on themselves and a defense that’s among the sport’s best. 

Ole Miss shot 38 percent from the field and beat a Top 5 team — with the country’s top scoring offense — on the road for the first time by double-digits. Safe to say the Rebels welcome any and all comers.

“Ole Miss’ defense is very good,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. Oats had won 83 percent of his home games as Alabama head coach prior to Tuesday. “Coach Beard always had great defensive teams. Their switching definitely messed with us. We didn’t lose because they were just a far superior team tonight. I felt like we lost because they came ready to play. They brought energy. They brought effort. And we did not. 

“That’s a frustrating way to lose. Their style is a little bit different than most, particularly on the defensive end. They’ve got good, hard-nosed, tough players. You look at some of the guys, they’ve got seven kids on that team that scored 1,000 points or more in their career. So the way they looked tonight, I think they should be in the mix to win the whole thing, not just be a double-bye team. I think they’re gonna be in the mix to win the whole thing.”

The included highlights were provided by Ole Miss Athletics.

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