GameDay Primer: Rocky Top flop in the rearview, Ole Miss turns to Florida
Ole Miss basketball has had four days to lick its wounds following the Rebels’ SEC-opening loss at Tennessee.
First-year head coach Chris Beard was short, sweet and right on in describing the blowout in his postgame comments. He said the Rebels were ‘whipped’ and ‘kicked’ against what he believes is a Final Four contender.
The final score: Tennessee 90, Ole Miss 64.
Whipped, indeed.
But one loss is only that … one loss.
The Rebels are still ranked in the Top 25 (No. 23, Coaches’ Poll), and they’re still comfortably projected as an NCAA Tournament team by ESPN and others. The Worldwide Leader has Ole Miss as an eight-seed.
Of course, Beard and Co. aren’t worried about the big picture right now, only what’s next. And for the Rebels, that’s Florida on Wednesday at 8 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.
“The first 19 minutes (at Tennessee), I thought we went nose-to-nose (and) toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the country on a night where the basket wasn’t opening up for us early,” Beard said after Tennessee.
Ole Miss won each of its first 13 games in a season for just the second time in program history.
He added, “I was proud of our effort. There’s a lot of positives there.”
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SERIES HISTORY
Ole Miss and Florida are meeting for the 119th time. The Gators hold an all-time series advantage of 70-48. However, the Rebels, in Oxford, are 32-23 and have won three straight. Florida has gotten the better of the Rebels recently, though. The Gators have won seven of the last 10.
SCOUTING THE GATORS
Florida enters play 10-4 on the season, including non-conference wins over Loyola Maryland, Florida A&M, Florida State, Pittsburgh, Merrimack College, Richmond, East Carolina, Michigan, Grambling State and Quinnipiac.
The Gators’ three out-of-conference losses came against Virginia, No. 13 Baylor and Wake Forest. They narrowly lost at No. 6 Kentucky, 87-85, in their SEC opener on Saturday.
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Florida is the nation’s No. 1 rebounding team (45.2 per game).
The Gators have five players averaging double figures. Leading the team is Iona transfer Walter Clayton, Jr. (15.7 points per game), while Tyrese Samuel is the SEC leader in double-doubles (6).
Samuel is pulling down 8.7 rebounds per game. Forward Micah Handlogten averages 7.5. The Gators are fifth in the country in offensive rebounds per game (15.79), and they’re No. 18 in defensive boards (29.43). Ole Miss, meanwhile, is in the 300s nationally in the category.
Florida features the No. 11 overall scoring offense (86.2 ppg). The Gators are ninth in per-game free-throw attempts and No. 30 in fast-break points. Florida averages 5.4 blocks per game, the 19th-best mark in college basketball.
Todd Golden is in his second season as Florida head coach. He’s compiled a 26-21 record.
Golden previously spent three seasons leading San Francisco, where he posted a pair of 20-win campaigns. Golden spent 2016-19 as an assistant at San Francisco. Another was spent under Bruce Pearl at Auburn.
ALL GAS, ALL BRAKE
Ole Miss senior forward Jaemyn Brakefield has shot 66.7 percent from the field (34-51) and 57.9 percent from three (11-19) over his last five games. He’s averaged 19.4 points over that span, as well as 4.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.8 steals.
PREPARED FOR A CHALLENGE
Ole Miss has a remaining schedule that ranks among the toughest in the nation. The Rebels’ upcoming opponents have a collective winning percentage of 71.7 percent — good for 30th overall. Thirteen of their remaining 17 games are against Top 100 NET teams. Eleven are against Top 50s.
