‘We just fought’: Ole Miss and Georgia met for basketball but a ‘real street fight’ broke out

Ole Miss fifth-year guard Matthew Murrell returned in full from a lower-body injury last week at Memphis.

He wasn’t himself. 

Murrell had 10 points in 23 minutes a week prior in a win over Queens. However, he was still considered day-to-day by second-year Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard.

Murrell missed eight of his 11 shots in a 17-point loss. He returned to form in the Rebels’ SEC-opening win over Georgia. Murrell and fellow senior Jaemyn Brakefield scored 15 points in a 63-51 win. 

Ole Miss improved to 12-2 (1-0 SEC) on the year and next travel to Arkansas (11-3, 0-1). Tipoff on Wednesday is 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

“I thought above all today we just fought,” Beard said afterwards. “Typical of a first conference game. A lot of nerves for both teams, really want to win. Both teams have had good non-conferences. The second half we fought. We competed. 

“We had a little adversity, too. Some things we normally do well and you’re not going to get every call. These are the best officials in college basketball, period. I mean that. But we had some things not go our way today and we just kept fighting. We had a poise about us. It was a kind of real street fight. I thought we were the tougher team in the second half. 

“No disrespect to Georgia, but I think we were the tougher team in the last 20 minutes of the game.”

Murrell was Ole Miss’ leading scorer last season.

He’s now led or tied for the team lead in points twice this season. Murrell passed Don Kessinger and is now tied with Gerald Glass for 11th on the all-time Ole Miss scoring list.

“He’s put a lot of time in the training room (and) taking care of his body,” Beard said. “He’s full-speed right now in terms of minutes and all that. But I’m sure he’d like to be even healthier, as would everybody.”

LOOK: No. 24 Ole Miss gets back on track, opens SEC play with win over Georgia

GAME RECAP

Georgia (12-2, 0-1) led Ole Miss 28-26 at halftime. Both teams shot under 35 percent from the floor in the period.

Sean Pedulla had a team-high seven first-half points, while Malik Dia grabbed four rebounds. Asa Newell led Georgia with seven points and seven rebounds. Ole Miss held Georgia to 11.1 percent shooting from 3. Neither side had better than a six-point advantage.

Ole Miss came out strong to start the second. The Rebels shot an efficient 4 for 6 from the field to retake the lead, 37-30, at the under-16 media timeout.

Georgia made just two of its 14 shots over the first eight minutes. The Bulldogs were 0 for 5 from 3. Ole Miss pushed ahead by 12 with 11:39 remaining. However, the Bulldogs used a 7-0 run over three minutes to cut the deficit to 45-41 with 7:47 left. 

Ole Miss responded with a 6-0 run over 1:49 to stretch the lead to 58-47 with not even two minutes left. A Brakefield put-back off an offensive rebound helped ice the game. Brakefield tied Murrell with his 15 points. He also had four rebounds, including three on the offensive glass.

“(Brakefield and Murrell) came back to do one thing — leave a legacy,” Beard said. “I thought today you saw that out there. I don’t even need to look at the stat sheet; I know Matt and Brake, their minds and hearts were in the right place today. They made winning plays. 

“I thought the offensive rebound late by Brake was the biggest play of the game. That’s where his heart was all game. Had a lot of good individual performances, but certainly those two returning veterans, Matt and Brake, they just kind of had that look in their eye that we’re not losing.”

Ole Miss kept Georgia to just 24.1 percent (7 for 29) in the second half.

The Bulldogs were just 11.1 percent (1 for 9) from three.  

Dia finished with seven total rebounds. Murrell had three assists. Newell notched a double-double (13 points, 13 rebounds), but was limited to just six points in the second half. Ole Miss shot 50 percent over the final 20 minutes. The Rebels forced 15 Georgia turnovers.

“I believe bouncing back from the Memphis game was just really the focus as a group,” Brakefield said. “Kind of had to refocus. That game against Memphis was not us. This game against Georgia is going to be who we are. 

“After (Memphis) we got together as a team. It wasn’t sugarcoated, man. We got together and expressed our thoughts. We want to do something big in this conference.”

NOTABLES

Brakefield scored his 15 points on 5 for 7 shooting. He made a season-high three 3-pointers. … Ole Miss held Georgia to just 29.3 percent on field goals. The Bulldogs entered the game No. 12 in the NCAA in FG percentage (50.7). … Ole Miss out-rebounded Georgia, 35-34. The Bulldogs were 12th nationally in rebounding margin (+10.4). … Dre Davis had a career-high five blocks. … Ole Miss now has 10 or more steals and blocks in three games this season.