Heroes and Highlights: Ole Miss makes history with epic win over Top 5 Tennessee
Ole Miss basketball made history Wednesday night in its win over Tennessee.
A Jaemyn Brakefield put-back secured a 78-76 win, the second for the Rebels over a Top 5 opponent this season, a first in the program’s history. Ole Miss improved to 21-9 overall and 10-7 in the SEC.
The Rebels just a week ago were riding a three-game losing streak. They were never really in danger of falling out of the projected 64-team field. However, their seeding suffered. Ole Miss was most recently projected as a 7-seed by both ESPN and CBS. The Rebels were in contention for a Top 4 seed just a month ago.
They looked more like that team on Wednesday. Now Ole Miss is on the cusp of its first trip to the ‘Big Dance’ in over five years and 10th in its 100-plus-year history.
“Especially with what I’ve been through the past five years,” fifth-year senior guard Matthew Murrell said, “just to be able to share this moment with this team and especially (Brakefield) right here, last game in the Pavilion, it’s a very special moment.”
COME TO THE SIP 📍#HottyToddy x #Culture pic.twitter.com/Ry4K9M40AM
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) March 6, 2025
Dre Davis finished with the fourth double-double of his career, which spans three college stops.
Davis was signed in the off-season as part of an Ole Miss transfer class ranked Top 16 in the country by On3. He came over from Seton Hall.
Davis was one of four Rebels to score double digit points, tying for second on the team in scoring with 1. He led the Rebels in rebounding (10).
Brakefield, on Senior Night, had a team-high 19 points (all in the second half) on 8 for 9 from the field. Ole Miss snapped a four-game losing streak to Tennessee. The Rebels had dropped nine of the last 10 in the series.
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“We had a great week of practice,” Brakefield said. “It’s crazy ‘cause me and Matt actually were bumping heads the other day. But its as a great confrontation, just knowing we all got to get on the same page. At the end of the day both me and him wanted to win not only for ourselves but for Oxford.”
Malik Dia, one of the other 10 seniors, had 13 points, including five makes in seven shot attempts. He sank the only 3 he attempted. Murrell had 12 and four rebounds. No player in Ole Miss history has played more games than Murrell.
“Just happy for the guys,” second-year Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard said. “We’ve got a lot of basketball left, so this wasn’t like an emotional day of Senior Day. We didn’t really say much about it. I had a quick moment with each of our seniors before the game. Those things will be said later on.
“But (Brakefield and Murrell) mean the world to me. They mean the world to Ole Miss. Coaching changes are hard. For both these guys to trust us two years ago where they both had options and then for both to come back their last year, I’m extremely, personally thankful.”
