Although his team did enough to win on Tuesday, Ole Miss coach Chris Beard hardly was enamored of certain aspects of the game, notably how his offense struggled holding on to the ball and how his club was outrebounded.
Beard and the 17th-ranked Rebels hope to correct both areas and get their fifth straight win Saturday when they host Queens in Oxford, Miss.
Ole Miss (10-1) heads into the game before facing No. 21 Memphis on Dec. 28 and entering league play on Jan. 4 as the Southeastern Conference’s fourth-best scoring defense (63.9 points per game).
During their past four wins, the Rebels have allowed an average of 55.8 points. Ole Miss had its closest margin during the streak on Tuesday when it earned a 74-61 win over Southern. The Rebels were outrebounded 38-36 on a night in which the offense committed a season-worst 17 turnovers.
“I think what we learned is we got to continue to execute the plan,” Beard said Tuesday. “We’re trying to become a better rebounding team, and tonight, the bottom line is we didn’t get it done. We tried to take care of the ball. It’s been an early part of our identity, and tonight was our worst performance in terms of just turnovers.”
Even with Beard’s complaints, the Rebels continue to get a variety of strong performances for an offense that is averaging 81.9 points and shooting 47.8 percent from the field.
Jaylen Murray, who scored a team-high 18 points against Southern, is 11-for-18 from the field in his past two games. Jaemyn Brakefield has scored in double figures in consecutive games, and Dre Davis has reached double digits in seven of the last 10 games.
The Rebels hope leading scorer Sean Pedulla will bounce back from his worst shooting night of the season. Pedulla, who is shooting 42.9 percent for the season, was 2 of 11 Tuesday after going 17 of 33 in his previous three games.
Ole Miss’ opponent on Saturday, Queens (7-5), is riding a four-game winning streak entering its third contest against a power conference opponent. The Royals were blown out last month at Big 12 foes Utah and BYU.
Queens is coming off a 73-66 home win Wednesday over Mercer that was highlighted by one of the Royals’ best defensive showings this season. Queens allowed the Bears to shoot just 37.9 from the field and 16 percent from 3-point range.
The Royals are averaging 75.3 points a game but are coming off their second win in six games when scoring under 75. Leading scorer Leo Colimerio (10.9 points a game) is coming off his first double-double (11 points, 12 rebounds) but also scored 27 a week ago against Gardner-Webb after totaling one point on 0-of-8 shooting against Utah and BYU.
“Our defensive effort tonight was phenomenal,” Queens coach Grant Leonard said. “We managed to hold a team that shoots the ball well to four threes and under 40 percent, so we’re really excited about that. Even though it wasn’t our best shooting night, it was a really good defensive effort.”
–Field Level Media
