The No. 24 Ole Miss basketball team leaned on veterans and stalwart defense in its 63-51 win over Georgia to open SEC play on a high note.
Matthew Murrell and Jaemyn Brakefield shook off a suboptimal outing versus Memphis one week ago and scored 15 points apiece to lead the Rebels to a hard-fought victory over the Bulldogs. Defensively, Ole Miss held Georgia to a 29.4% shooting performance as the Bulldogs made just two of 18 shots from behind the arc during Saturday’s early game in the SJB Pavilion.
“Just getting back and gathering as a group and realizing what the end goal is, that’s what the whole week was about — being focused and being prepared,” Brakefield said of how his team geared up to face Georgia. “We got together as a team. Nothing was sugarcoated. We got together and expressed our thoughts. We want to do something big in this conference.”
Fueled by a strong opening by Sean Pedulla, Ole Miss (12-2, 1-0 SEC) jumped out to a 10-4 lead within the first five minutes of action, but the offense quickly fizzled as Georgia 12-2, 1-2 SEC) clawed back. Bulldog forward Asa Newell converted a three-point play to knot things up 15-15 with 9:28 left until the midway break. Things got even worse for Ole Miss when Mikeal Brown-Jones suffered an injury and was escorted to the locker room after blocking a shot. He did not return to the hardwood.
From there, both groups went back and forth. Dakota Leffew made Georgia’s first triple of the night at the 6:22 mark, giving the Bulldogs their inaugural lead of the contest. As offensive inertia continued to plague Ole Miss, veterans Matthew Murrell and Jaemyn Brakefield willed the Rebels into competitiveness on the scoreboard, notching a collective seven points in the last three minutes of the half. Georgia led 28-26 at the midway break.
“We were pretty direct on what we needed to do better,” Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard said regarding halftime adjustments. “We got on to the plan … Our offense was not helping our defense in the first half. In the second half, we made a cognitive effort to move the ball and get more people involved.”
Murrell scored four quick points and Dre Davis drained a triple to put the Rebels back on top early in the second half. Ole Miss, with a boost of confidence, went on a 16-4 run as the defense forced a shot-clock violation and multiple Georgia turnovers over an eight-minute span.
The Bulldogs, coached by former Ole Miss hooper Mike White, battled back and went on an 11-1 run to cut what was once a 12-point deficit to two. Blue Cain boosted Georgia’s run and the Rebels had a mere 45-43 advantage with 7:30 left on the clock.
A crucial three-pointer from Brakefield put Ole Miss back up by seven with just over five minutes remaining in the contest and the Rebels closed out the 2025 SEC debut outscoring its foe 16-8 to emerge a double-figure victor.
Ole Miss’ defensive excellence was not always mirrored on the offensive end as the Rebels had multiple scoring droughts over 40 minutes. Chris Beard’s crew was 21-51 from the floor, but connected on six three-pointers. Brakefield was responsible for three of the shots from deep.
“It felt good,” Beard said of his veterans stepping up. “That’s the game plan. Just have some discipline and do what we say we’re going to do. If we’re going to come out here and have a good week of practice, then on game day, we’re not going to do it, then why practice? I thought tonight we did what we said we were going to do.”
Senior guard Jaylen Murray came off the bench for the first time this season and was a largely ineffective offensive presence, scoring just three points. Pedulla scored seven points in the first half. Davon Barnes and Malik Dia joined their teammate in the seven-club.
On top of forcing Georgia to heave up shots in the waning seconds of the shot clock, Ole Miss stole the ball 10 times and blocked 10 shots. Davis had five blocks of his own. The Rebels also won the rebounding battle, securing one more board than the Bulldogs, and turned the ball over two times less.
Asa Newell was the bright light for Georgia on a rough day for the Bulldogs. The star forward had a team-best 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Next up for Ole Miss is a midweek SEC battle at Arkansas on Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT and the game will be aired on ESPN2 as well as participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations.
