Rebels outlast MSU in front of school-record crowd, move to 5-3 in SEC

OXFORD | Ole Miss hired Chris Beard on March 13, setting in motion the path to the pandemonium that erupted at the SJB Pavilion on Tuesday.

On that same day, Josh Hubbard, Mississippi’s top prep player and an Ole Miss signee until the Rebels fired Kermit Davis, signed with Mississippi State. Hubbard decommitted as soon as Davis was let go.

Those two occurrences collided for the first time this evening. Both were successful. Hubbard got his points. Beard got the win, something he’s done every time on this court.

In front of largest home basketball crowd in Ole Miss history, an announced 10,630, the Rebels shot 58 percent in the second half and beat the Bulldogs, 86-82, to move to 18-3 overall and 5-3 in the SEC. MSU is 14-7 and 3-5 in the SEC.

The Rebels won just 12 games, including three in the league, a year ago.

“One of the best environments in college basketball tonight,” Beard said. “We’re building something here, and this building was a force.”

Students lined up hours prior to tip off on Tuesday, and the record crowd was more than 1,000 ahead of the arena’s listed attendance — the 9,500 that was the previous max on nine occasions. Saturday’s home date with nationally ranked Auburn is already a sellout.

“From day one he talked about doing it quickly,” Ole Miss athletics director Keith Carter said of Beard, who took Texas Tech to an Elite Eight and an NCAA Championship Game. “It’s not fair to Matthew Murrell or Jaemyn Brakefield and those guys to say we are going to rebuild.

“We want to win now. That’s the way he runs his program, the CEO mindset, and gets the best out of every player. The team is gelling and figuring each other out. It’s a lot of fun, and we’re seeing special times.”

Hubbard had 13 first-half points and carried MSU to a seven-point lead on multiple occasions, but the Rebels fought back through foul trouble, and Jaylen Murray hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie it at 39 at halftime.

Ole Miss wouldn’t trail again.

The Rebels started the second half on a 14-3 run and led 56-45 with 14 minutes to go. Ole Miss shot 40 percent from behind the arc after the break. State cut it to one point on two occasions, the last time on a Dashwan Davis lay-up with 3:39 left.

Jaylen Murray hit two 3-pointers soon after, and Ole Miss eventually led 84-80 at the one-minute mark after a Brandon Murray lay-up. A goaltending call on Ole Miss cut it to two points with 40 seconds remaining, but Cameron Matthews missed the first of two free throws with four seconds left for MSU. He air-balled the second trying to hit the rim.

TJ Caldwell hit two free throws on a one-and-one to ice it. Caldwell came off the bench to score 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting including 4-of-5 from three-point range. It’s a career high in points, field goals made and 3-point field goals.

“This isn’t a one-game deal,” Beard said about Caldwell. “He’s been great in practice, and the basketball is opening up to him. It’s a player’s game.”

Jaylen Murray had 21, including 13 in the second half, and added 11 assists with just one turnover in 39 minutes. Murrell scored 20 on 7-for-14 shooting, and Brakefield had 10.

Ole Miss shot 50.8 percent for the game. UM is 7-0 in games decided by five points or fewer.

The Rebels held Hubbard to five points in the second half.

“Everybody knew I was going to get booed,” Hubbard said. “That was expected, but I processed through the moment and reacted pretty good.”

Mississippi State beat Ole Miss on the boards, 38-25, including 14 offensive rebounds. Ole Miss turned 15 MSU turnovers into 18 points. The Bulldogs had just four points off Rebel turnovers.

Moussa Cisse played only 11 minutes because of foul trouble.

Ole Miss was No. 57 in the NET entering the day, and Mississippi State was at No. 37. Auburn is at No. 9 in advance of Saturday’s matchup in Oxford.

"I feel like our ceiling is limitless,” Murrell said. “We hope to be playing our best basketball in the month of February and the month of March and April. That's what it's all about. We feel like we're heading up that way."

The Rebels are 13-0 in the Pavilion this season, extending the longest winning streak in the building. Ole Miss expects the crowd versus Auburn to eclipse the raucous, invested, attendance against MSU.

“It starts with a vision from the chancellor and athletics director, and let’s do this, let’s build this,” Beard said. “Let’s get into this game of men’s basketball in the SEC. Get in the fight.

"To win the fight you have to get in the fight. You want every seat filled and then you want the people in the seats to impact the game. We’re continuing to grow it. A lot of people have gone into this.”