WATCH: An NCAA Tournament 6-seed? Ole Miss looked like it against LSU

No. 22 Ole Miss hosted LSU on Saturday as a projected 6-seed in the NCAA Tournament, according to ESPN. 

The Rebels played like it.

Ole Miss was a 10.5-point favorite and overcame a sluggish start for its third straight win to open SEC play, 77-65. The Rebels (14-2) are off to their first 3-0 start to league play since 2018-19.

“We’re very thankful for the attendance tonight,” Ole Miss second-year head coach Chris Beard said in the opening statement of his postgame press conference. “All of our students aren’t back, but many of our students came back early to go to this game. So, we’re very appreciative. Thank you to those students. Also, with the weather the last couple of days, we just had a lot of our season-ticket holders come in from outside of Oxford. So, thank you. Almost a capacity crowd. Must have been eight, nine thousand people here. 

“It’s exciting to think about what we’re building here, especially when the students get back for our next home game when classes are back in session.”

“So, thank you to everybody that promoted the game. Funky’s did a promotion with the Grove Collective where they’re going to give a dollar a person that came to the game. So, thank you to that business and the Grove Collective for setting that up and so many other people that contributed to this attendance tonight. Again, not the best weather out there, especially yesterday when people were making decisions whether they come to the game or not. 

“Thank you to (Ole Miss) chancellor (Glenn) Boyce — with his promotion had a lot of faculty staff here. Just want to invite all those people back. If we had anybody come to the game tonight where this is your first game, we’d love to have you back.”

Malik Dia led Ole Miss with 19 points and seven rebounds in his 26 minutes. 

He was one of five Rebels to score double-digit points. Jaemyn Brakefield had 16 points and five rebounds. 

Ole Miss next has three Quadrant 1 and ranked games in a row. Two are on the road, including Tuesday (January 14) at No. 5 Alabama at 6 p.m. CT.

“Good team win,” Beard said. “I thought our defense was good. LSU is a high field-goal percentage team; ranked nationally and we played some pretty good half-court defense tonight. Most of our troubles were in the full court. But give LSU credit; they’re explosive on the break. We were concerned about their length and shot-blocking ability. To get through this game and only have a couple shots blocked at the rim showed our guys were executing the game plan. 

“Low turnover second half when we need it most. I think we had three or four turnovers in the second half after kind of a disappointing first half in that regard. But give LSU credit; they’re the reason we were turning the ball over in the first half. Just proud of Dia. Back-to-back games in the SEC. Dia and I share a common goal with his future and its consistency. Nobody questions his talent. To put these two performances back-to-back, just can’t wait to coach this guy on Tuesday and see if he can do it again. 

“Obviously we’re a little underhanded with Mikeal Brown-Jones being out. Mel’s probably our most physical player around the basket. I think Dia has really stepped up and gotten a lot more done around the basket with Mel being out right now. Big fella played a good game.”

The included highlights and photos were provided by Ole Miss Athletics.

Ole Miss forward Malik Dia

Rebel guard Jaylen ‘Juju’ Murray

Rebel guard Matthew Murrell

Ole Miss guard Eduardo Klafke

Ole Miss guard Dre Davis

Matthew Murrell and Eduardo Klafke

Matthew Murrell and Eduardo Klafke

Ole Miss guard Dre Davis