Rebels respond with dominant win over Gators
Ole Miss dominated Florida in almost every facet Wednesday night, crushing the Gators in the Rebels’ home opener, 103-85.
Days after a blowout loss at Tennessee, Ole Miss played its best game of the season, pulling away in the second half for a comfortable victory. The Rebels improved to 14-1 overall and 1-1 in the Southeastern Conference. Florida fell to 10-5 overall and 0-2 in the SEC.
“We knew we had to come out tonight and sort of make a stand for ourselves,” Ole Miss coach Chris Beard said.
Ole Miss led by four at halftime, but in the second half, the Rebels took total control of the contest. Ole Miss’ defense put the clamps on Florida’s offense while the Rebels’ offense was proficient both in the half-court and in transition, building a lead that reached 21 points with 7:55 left on a traditional 3-point play from Jamarion Sharp and again on Allen Flanigan’s layup with 2:46 remaining.
Jaylen Murray’s jumper extended Ole Miss’ lead to 23 points one possession later, and the party was on in Oxford.
Jaemyn Brakefield led Ole Miss with 28 points and five rebounds. Matthew Murrell added 23 points and four assists. Flanigan had 17 points and four rebounds. Jaylen Murray had 12 points and eight assists. Sharp had eight points and nine blocked shots.
Sharp, who set a school record with his nine blocked, said it’s possible for a shot-blocker to get hot in that category.
“After the first one, it just feels like I can do more,” Sharp said. “It’s all about timing. Once I’m in that zone, I time everything. Tonight, I was in that zone.”
Walter Clayton Jr. led Florida with 23 points. Zyon Pullon added 18. Tyrese Samuel and Alex Condon chipped in with 11 points apiece.
Ole Miss shot 59 percent from the floor and 40 percent from the 3-point line. The Rebels were out-rounded, 44-34, and were beaten on the offensive glass, 26-10, but Beard said his team “stayed the course” Wednesday.
“I thought we did a good job rebounding in the first half and kind of held our own,” Beard said. “…I didn’t like the way we finished the game in the last seven or eight minutes. There was too much fouling and rebounding became an issue late, but give our guys a lot of credit. I thought for the first 30 minutes of the game we did a good job on the backboards against a really good rebounding team.”
Ole Miss committed just eight turnovers, five fewer than Florida’s 13. The Rebels had nine steals, five more than Florida’s four.
Beard said he sensed in the days following the loss at Knoxville the Rebels were going to respond with a strong effort against Florida.
“One day doesn’t define you,” Beard said, referring to the Rebels’ struggles in the second half versus Tennessee. “I did think we’d respond tonight. I really did because I know who these guys are. I was out there on the early Friday mornings at 6 a.m. I was out there for two-a-days. Even though we won some games to start the season, we still had a lot of adversity. We don’t base our performance on the scoreboard only. We kind of base our performance on where we’re at. I did have a really good feeling about tonight. I certainly couldn’t predict a win or a loss, but I knew we’d respond.”
Ole Miss entertains Vanderbilt Saturday at noon.