French guard Ilias Kamardine had an explosive night, scoring 26 points in an 83-77 win for Ole Miss over Memphis. The Rebels were tested in the SJB Pavilion on Tuesday, as the Tigers’ 40 minutes of defensive pressure and a late comeback attempt put the heat on Chris Beard’s crew. But Ole Miss (3-0) proved resilient by limiting turnovers and doing what it took to hold on.
Rebel big man Malik Dia connected on a three-pointer to open things up for the offense, as a war between two programs with no love lost between one another began to brew. Back-to-back layups by Tiger guard Ashton Hardaway put Memphis (1-1) up 12-7 with 15:20 on the first half clock.
An AJ Storr jumper followed by a big triple from Kamardine gave Ole Miss a much-needed spark, as Memphis’ press had caused its foe to become dysrhythmic offensively. A three by Tiger guard Dug McDaniel tied the contest 17:17 with just over 10 minutes in the first half.
Then the Kamardine show began. After Hardaway knocked down a triple to put Memphis within two points of Ole Miss, the Rebels’ talented floor general scored nine straight points for the home team, hitting a shot from deep and taking defenders to the hoop in the process.
Back 2 back for #6‼️#HottyToddy x #Culture https://t.co/ShMUrYojsm pic.twitter.com/7Qqbj7vQ7X
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 12, 2025
Travis Perry, who started the season 0-10 from deep, connected on a three-pointer to lift Ole Miss to a 39-33 advantage late in the half, countering a triple from Memphis guard Quante Berry. A triple buried by Kezza Giffa as the buzzer sounded found the Rebels leading Memphis by nine points at the midway intermission.
Memphis struck first in the second half, shaving four points off its disadvantage while Ole Miss was no good on three straight looks. A three-ball from Dia ignited the Rebels’ offense at the 17:47 mark, and Ole Miss started clicking. A deep shot by Kamardine and a dunk by LSU transfer Corey Chest aided in the red and blue taking a 54-43 lead, the home team’s largest buffer of the night, with 13:19 on the clock.
Ole Miss maintained a decent lead until the 5:16 mark, when the tide turned in the Tigers’ favor. Sincere Parker hit a layup to cut the Memphis deficit to six. Dia punched back with a mid-range jumper, kickstarting a series of volleying that would take the game down to the wire.
As the Rebels struggled with consistency at the free-throw line, Memphis pounced. With two minutes remaining in the matchup, a Curtis Givens III triple had the Tigers in striking distance. A double-digit lead Ole Miss once had was whittled down to four points. But the Rebels caught a huge break when Ahmad Bradshaw missed a pair of free throws that would have put Memphis within one score.
Storr, who had made a crucial jumpshot to help divert the Tigers’ run earlier in the half, was clutch at the charity stripe, hitting two free throws to put Ole Miss up 79-73 with a dwindling clock. A fastbreak dunk by Kamardine with 30 seconds left in regulation seemingly ensured a Rebel victory, and Beard’s team survived a rock fight. The win by the Rebels avenged last year’s 87-70 loss at Memphis.
𝙁𝙇𝙐𝙎𝙃𝙀𝘿👊#HottyToddy x #Culture pic.twitter.com/5tjm1cwJS4
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) November 12, 2025
“I didn’t think we cracked in terms of poise and all. We’ve just got to play better,” Beard said. “I thought, defensively, we had some mistakes late. Not taking anything away from Memphis. Penny [Hardaway] was finding the mismatch that he wanted, but we’ve got to do a lot better at cleaning things up and finishing the game a lot stronger.”
Aiding Kamardine on the scoreboard for Ole Miss were Giffa with 15 points, Dia, who had 13, and Storr, who scored 10. James Scott and Dia led the Rebels in rebounding with 7 and 6 boards, respectively. Ole Miss and Memphis were nearly even on the glass and in turnovers in the matchup.
Memphis had a four-headed dragon on the scoreboard. Givens led the way with 20 points, while Hardaway scored 16. Dug McDaniel scored 15, and Parker scored 12. McDaniel had a team-best 7 rebounds and 7 assists on the night.
Ole Miss was the more efficient team from the field on Tuesday. The Rebels made 52% of their total shots, while impressively connecting on 62% of shots from deep. The home team was also better at getting to the free-throw line. Ole Miss took 13 more free shots than Memphis.
Next up for Ole Miss will be the Tad Pad finale. The Rebels will play Cal State Bakersfield in Tad Smith Coliseum on Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT. SEC Network+ and participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations will air the game.
