Refocused Rebels get another shot at Texas A&M
NASHVILLE — Ole Miss’ season could end here Thursday night unless the Rebels can complete a 180-degree turn from Saturday afternoon in Oxford.
Ole Miss lost an 86-60 decision this past Saturday in Oxford to Texas A&M, the same team the Rebels will face Thursday night in the third of four second-round Southeastern Conference Tournament games at Bridgestone Arena.
Ole Miss practiced Wednesday midday at Tennessee State before heading downtown for a shoot-around in Bridgestone.
Ole Miss coach Chris Beard said he and his staff did a couple of things “just to shake the tree a little bit this week” following the blowout loss to the Aggies.
“Obviously all coaches do that,” Beard said. “It was not our best effort last time out. That’s not taking away from anything Texas A&M and those guys got accomplished during the game. There are multiple seasons in college basketball. I’ve always thought of the non-conference season. Then you get into conference play with a chance to win a championship. Then you get into your conference tournament, which we’ve always valued. As long as there’s a trophy up, we’re trying to win it. Then ultimately the opportunity to play in the national tournament is the fourth season of the year, so here we are. …Our goal is just to try to play some of our best basketball of the season when it matters most.”
Ole Miss split the season series with the Aggies, winning in College Station in January. Of course, February and March have been a nightmare for the Rebels as they’ve won just two of their last 10 games — both of those victories coming against Missouri, which is 0-18 in the league entering tonight’s first round game versus Georgia.
Ole Miss (20-11 overall, 7-11 in the SEC) would need to win four games in four days to get to the NCAA Tournament. Texas A&M, meanwhile, entered Wednesday rated No. 47 in the NET. As of midday Wednesday, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi projected the Aggies as the first team out of the NCAA Tournament.
The Ole Miss-Texas A&M winner will face Kentucky Friday in the third of four SEC Tournament quarterfinals.
The tourney semifinals are Saturday afternoon and the title game is Sunday afternoon.
“Everybody’s season in college basketball comes down to one game where you’re sitting in the locker room before the game and you have to win it or the season’s over,” Beard said. “That’s how our sport works. It’s not a best-of-five or a best-of-seven. We find ourselves in that situation right now. Other teams will be in that situation beginning next Thursday or Friday. For us, this is March Madness. We have to try to play our best when it matters most.”
Texas A&M (18-13 overall, 9-9 in the SEC) is led by veteran guards Wade Taylor IV and Tyrece Radford. They rank fourth and 12th, respectively, in the SEC in scoring.
Texas A&M leads all of college basketball in offensive rebounding, averaging 17.3 per game, and ranks third in total rebounding with an average of 42.7. The Aggies out-rebounded Ole Miss, 50-21, last Saturday.