Ole Miss returned one starter from last year’s Sweet 16 team — and it showed in the team’s regular-season opener versus Southeastern Louisiana. However, the experience of the group rife with upper-class newcomers showed as the team settled midway through the first half, and ran the Lions off the floor in an 88-58 win.
Chris Beard’s Rebels had an inept offensive start, scoring just 13 points in the first nine minutes. Nine of the points had come from the free-throw line. Then, a spark with just over eight minutes left in the first half, found the red and blue coming to life.
A Lion turnover paved the way for the Rebels to take their first lead of the night as Malik Dia hit a layup on a fast break. His score followed the team’s first three-pointer of the year, hit by freshman Patton Pinkins. Before that, the Rebels were 0-6 from behind the arc. Ole Miss’ 20-19 lead with 8:27 left in the half quickly turned into a double-digit advantage that the team would carry into the intermission.
The Rebels mounted a 24-7 run down the stretch and led 45-29 at halftime. A pair of three-pointers from Kansas transfer AJ Storr opened things up and allowed the home team to find a soft spot in its foe’s defense.
“Early on, I thought we might have been settling too much for the jumpshot. That was kind of our adjustments in the first couple of timeouts, not to settle and try to get to the bonus early, and we did. The free-throw line was a friend tonight,” Beard said after the game.
“I think when you start playing the right way, the jump shots will start going down. We can’t always rely on outside shooting. We’re going to have to rely on defense, unselfishness, and trying to get to the free-throw line. But the basket opened up for us a little bit tonight, which was nice to see.”
After the break, Ole Miss, fueled by a Storr’s shooting, along with a connection between French point guard Ilias Kamardine and preseason All-SEC forward Malik Dia, built on the momentum it garnered in the first 20 minutes. Storr connected on two more triples in the first seven minutes of the second half, giving the Rebels a 63-38 lead.
“Shots were falling tonight. I’ve definitely been repping my threes in the offseason. I was glad to see them fall. Now, onto the next game,” Storr said.
With six minutes left in regulation, a steal by Kamardine turned into a successful lob by the savvy guard to Dia to cap off an alley-oop, and Ole Miss took a 75-48 lead over the Lions. And the rest was history.
DIA DUNK💪#HottyToddy x #Culture pic.twitter.com/vX3GgoiyP7
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 4, 2025
Dia led the way for Ole Miss with 20 points, while Storr was a close runner-up with 18. The Rebels were led in assists by Storr and Kamardine, who had four apiece. Louisville transfer James Scott had a team-best nine rebounds. Altogether, the Rebels grabbed 18 more boards than the Lions. Junior guard Jaiden Lawrence led Southeastern Louisiana in scoring with 16 points.
Next up for Ole Miss is a Friday night battle against Louisiana-Monroe at 6:30 p.m. CT. SEC Network+ and participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations will air the matchup.
