Ole Miss opened its regular season with a 99-58 blowout win over Alcorn State at home.
The Rebels (1-0) dominated the Braves (0-1) in just about every phase of the game, but most notably, turnovers and points scored off takeaways stood out. Chris Beard’s group forced its road opponent to turn the ball over 26 times and scored 39 points off of the giveaways. Veteran guard Ilias Kamardine led the defensive effort with 4 steals.
Ole Miss had five players in double figures on the scoreboard. Seton Hall transfer Budd Clark’s 17 points led the way offensively, with Patton Pinkins’ 16 points and Santiago Trouet’s 15 points complementing the team effort. Ole Miss shot 59% from the field and 40% from behind the 3-point arc. Other highlightable stats included Clark recording 7 assists, Trouet grabbing 7 rebounds, and Pinkins making 75% of his 3-point shots.
The Rebels opened the game on a 22-4 run. Alcorn State, which was clearly outmatched physically, did not surpass the 10-point threshold until Saxby Sunderland connected on a 3-pointer at the 8:28 mark. The Braves found a little groove from deep in the 1st half, which accounted for more than half of their offensive production. With the 3-point shot falling, the Braves scored 21 points to close out the half. Ole Miss, however, kept scoring as well. Clark went coast to coast and connected on a layup to send the Rebels to halftime with a 52-31 lead.
The 2nd half started with Ole Miss outscoring Alcorn State 16-7 to lead 68-38 with 12:35 remaining in regulation. The lead stayed around the 30-point range until the 8:11 mark, when Roman Siulepa bullied his way into making a layup in the paint, and Trouet had back-to-back dunks. After Ole Miss claimed an 87-50 advantage with 6:07 remaining in regulation, Beard turned to his bench to hold down the fort the rest of the way.
Alcorn State was led in scoring by Stetson transfer Calvin Sirmans. The shifty guard scored 20 points and shot 75% from the field. Bobby Cannon’s 14 points were the next-best by a Brave in the blowout loss.
Next up for Ole Miss is a Friday night home matchup against Central Arkansas. The game will air on SEC Network+ and participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations.
