Ole Miss head men’s basketball coach Chris Beard sent his starting lineup into the press room to explain a subpar overall performance in Tuesday night’s 72-65 win over Austin Peay.
Team leaders AJ Storr and Malik Dia chalked the showing to a lack of acceptable effort, defensive lapses, and difficulties in securing rebounds on Ole Miss’ end. Beard, on the other hand, sensed a hint of arrogance from his players — in the sense that they thought they would simply beat Austin Peay because they were a more talented unit. The Rebel frontman not only disagreed with that sentiment but also acknowledged that it’s never wise to dismiss any opponent.
“We have to play better basketball,” Beard said before complimenting Austin Peay. “Those guys came out and played great basketball. We had a hard time turning them over. They obviously did a great job with offensive rebounding. We were fortunate with our three-point percentage tonight. But that’s a good basketball team.”
Ole Miss (5-0) was out-rebounded 17-14 on the offensive glass and gave up one more board overall during the home contest against the Governors. Dia led the Rebels in scoring with 18 points, while Collin Parker had a team-best 18 points for Austin Peay.
The Rebels jumped off to a 12-4 lead in just over five minutes of action, as Ilias Kamardine and Patton Pinkins knocked down a three-pointer apiece to boost an early run. The Governors, however, landed four deep shots of their own in a relatively low-scoring half to remain within arm’s reach on the scoreboard. At halftime, Ole Miss led 31-23. Both defenses shone in the first 20 minutes, holding the opposing offenses to low shooting percentages.
A strong opening to the second half by Dia and AJ Storr found Ole Miss garnering a 46-29 lead in the first six minutes after the midway break. Storr had scored on a fastbreak and connected on a three-ball, while Dia had gotten to the basket for a trio of layups and hit two free throws.
Then, a daunting scoring drought by the home Rebels paved the way for a hungry Austin Peay bunch to claw right back into contention. A triple by Parker kickstarted a 14-0 run by the visitors, and just like that, the Governors had cut their deficit to two points. Following a dunk by former Rebel Rashaud Marshall, Ole Miss led 48-46 with 8:25 on the clock.
Efforts by Ole Miss to regain a lead were fruitless over the next couple of minutes. A three-pointer by Kamardine was quickly negated by a pair of triples by Austin Peay, knotting the score up 52-52 with 6:23 left in regulation. The Rebels then began to pull away with a 16-4 run, fueled by a James Scott dunk, over the next three-and-a-half minutes. But the Governors were not intimidated.
A 5-point swing in favor of Austin Peay put the Governors within striking distance, trailing 68-61 with 1:33 left to play. Ole Miss, despite going the final three minutes without converting on a field goal, proceeded to close the game by making four free throws to win by 7.
Joining Dia in double figures for Ole Miss were Kamardine, who had 15 points in an off-night, and Storr with 11. Kamardine also had 7 assists and 7 rebounds in the contest. For Austin Peay, Zyree Collins was second in scoring with 17 points, and Marshall scored 14 against his former team.
Ole Miss will travel to Palm Springs, Calif., for its next matchup in the Acrisure Series, where the Rebels will take on Iowa on Tuesday. The game will air on the CBS Sports Network and participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations.
