The No. 23 Ole Miss Rebels will look to carry over the same winning formula against a border rival when they face No. 5 Alabama on Tuesday night in a Southeastern Conference game Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The Rebels (14-2, 3-0) did something last season that they had not done during coach Chris Beard’s brief tenure — go outside the U.S. to add to the roster.
Beard found what he was looking for in 6-foot-5 guard Eduardo Klafke, a native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and a player for the NBA Academy, who loved Ole Miss’ home of Oxford and chose it over Xavier and Creighton.
Klafke has made an impact in a limited reserve role, but Beard said he likes the true freshman’s body language and confidence on the court.
And the shooting.
A lanky 195-pounder with longer, feathered hair straight out of the 1980s, Klafke has shown proficiency from long range.
Averaging 2.7 points and 12.3 minutes per game, Klafke has hit 11 of 18 3-pointers (61.1 percent) and is shooting 63.6 percent from the field overall.
“Big part of what we’re doing,” Beard said of the 19-year-old. “He’s stayed patient on a Top 25 team as a freshman. … I have a lot of confidence in Klafke. I think he’s going to be a special player this season. He’s going to help us.”
Holding a 28-26 lead over visiting LSU on Saturday, the Rebels scored 49 points in the second half for a comfortable 77-65 win.
Malik Dia led the squad with 19 points and seven rebounds, pacing the group for the second straight game in points.
Ole Miss has won its first three conference matches for the first time since the 2018-19 campaign.
In the first-ever top-10 clash in College Station, Texas, on Saturday, Alabama (14-2, 3-0) was up to the task of taking down a gritty Texas A&M squad in front of a raucous crowd.
Coach Nate Oats’ group led the intense matchup by as many as 15 before stopping a late run by the Aggies for a 94-88 win to stay undefeated in the SEC and capture its eighth straight victory overall.
A key down the stretch occurred at the foul line, where the team was able to drain seven straight to hang on and preserve the victory.
Alabama finished 27 of 40 (67.5 percent) at the line, and the team’s leading scorer this season, Mark Sears, who netted a game-high 27 points, was successful on all but one of his 10 at the foul line.
Sears averages 19.1 points per game, while Grant Nelson adds 12.2 points and 8.6 rebounds.
In what is promising to be an ultra-competitive SEC where some pundits are predicting as many as 13 schools making the NCAA Tournament, Oats said every contest, especially away from Tuscaloosa, would be a test.
“This is a game if you are planning on winning the league, and that is what we are trying to do, you have to go on the road and win these games,” Oats said.
His bunch scored the most points (94) in school history in College Station, topping the old mark of 74 set in the 1991-92 season.
Clifford Omoruyi had to be helped off the court after rolling his ankle in the first minute of the second half but returned.
“He ends up with 10 rebounds in 16-plus minutes. You can’t say enough about it,” Oats added.
–Field Level Media
