Ole Miss lost its fourth straight game, and No. 25 Tennessee got to celebrate to “Rocky Top” on its home court after defeating the Rebels 84-66 on Tuesday night.
While the two teams were separated by one point midway through the contest, a 58-point second half by the Volunteers (16-2, 6-3 SEC) ultimately proved beneficial for Rick Barnes’ team. Projected NBA Draft lottery pick Nate Ament led Tennessee in scoring with a game-high 28 points, while Ja’Kobi Gillespie had 20 points. Freshman Patton Pinkins and AJ Storr led Ole Miss (11-11, 3-6) in scoring with 15 points apiece.
An Ilias Kamardine triple got things started, and Ole Miss took an early 3-0 lead, one that was short-lived. A surge in scoring by JP Estrella and Gillespie catalyzed a 12-2 Tennessee run. Building on the momentum, back-to-back triples by Gillespie and Troy Henderson gave the Volunteers an 18-9 advantage at the 12:18 mark. Ole Miss took advantage of a Tennessee scoring drought with a trio of deep shots, two of which were hit by Pinkins, cutting its deficit to one point at the midway point of the half.
The Volunteers’ first-half offensive woes continued, but the Rebels failed to capitalize on a golden opportunity to jump ahead. Gillespie ended a nearly seven-minute field goal hiatus with a triple to put Tennessee up 26-20 with 2:26 remaining in the frame. Storr rebutted with a 5-0 run to cut the Ole Miss deficit to one point once again. After forcing a Volunteer turnover with six seconds left on the clock, the Rebels were unable to get a good look at the basket and trailed 26-25 at the intermission.
Ole Miss battled with Tennessee early in the second half as both teams got off to a hot start offensively. But the Volunteers continued to feel an offensive rhythm, while the Rebels struggled to score consistently. Things then spun out of control for the visitors. A manageable deficit turned into a 16-point hill to climb with under seven minutes remaining in regulation.
Things turned from bad to worse for the Rebels at the 6:15 mark when Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard stormed onto the court and jawed with an official over what he believed to have been a missed call that would have erased a turnover by Augusto Cassia. Beard was promptly ejected from the game, and adding insult to injury, Cassia fouled out of the matchup 21 seconds later.
“You have a Hall of Fame coach here — first ballot — one of the best that’s ever done it, and I think if you look back at different spots of his career, he had to fight for his program. I kind of think that’s where we are with Ole Miss right now,” Beard told the media after the game.
“The free-throw differential in this game and the foul differential in this game are just frustrating from a coaching standpoint and a playing standpoint. It’s never personal,” he continued. “These are the best officials in college basketball … But, at some point as a coach, you have to fight for your players.”
Beard’s ejection did not spark a rally from his group. Ole Miss trailed 67-51 when the third-year frontman was tossed and was outscored 17-15 the rest of the way. Tennessee led by as many as 27 during its second-half surge.
To Beard’s point, the free-throw disparity heavily favored the Volunteers, magnified by the home team being in the bonus less than eight minutes into the final frame. Tennessee was 23-24 at the charity stripe, compared to Ole Miss being 13-21 from the line. The biggest difference between the two teams was rebounding, where the Volunteers had a whopping 17-board advantage.
Ole Miss will continue its SEC slate at Texas, Beard’s former employer, on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT. ESPN2 and participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations will broadcast the game.
