Ole Miss opened the season in emphatic fashion Monday night, rolling past Alcorn State 99-58 and giving Coach Beard’s revamped roster the kind of start it badly needed.
The result mattered, but so did the way the Rebels handled the night. After last season’s disappointment, there was no room for a slow start or a careless letdown, even against an opponent that many would have expected Ole Miss to handle. The Rebels treated it that way from the jump.
Coach Beard went with Ilias Kamardine, Adam Clark (Seton Hall), Patton Pinkins, Roman Siulepa (Pitt) and Corey Stephenson (FIU) in the starting five. Siulepa and Stephenson each played fewer than 20 minutes after picking up three fouls apiece.
That opened the door for the bench to matter, and Santiago Trouet (Arizona St) made the biggest imprint there, leading the reserves in both minutes played with 22 and scoring with 15 points. Newly eligible Ben Henshall also logged significant minutes off the bench.
Even in a 41-point win, the shooting numbers were rough for Ole Miss. The Rebels went just 6-for-18 from three-point range and 23-for-37 at the free throw line. Alcorn State, meanwhile, hit 10 threes and shot 40% from deep, but the Braves still finished at 37% overall and never found enough offense to stay in it.
Clark paced Ole Miss with 17 points, and five Rebels finished in double figures. Kamardine, Clark and Trouet each also handed out five or more assists, a sign that the ball moved well even as the team worked through some early-season rust. Ole Miss finished with 11 turnovers, a number that could end up among its highest totals of the year as the group continues building chemistry.
The biggest difference was on the other end. Alcorn State coughed it up 26 times, and Ole Miss turned those mistakes into 39 points. The Braves managed only 10 points in the paint and 11 fastbreak points, while the Rebels piled up 56 points in the paint and 27 in transition.
It’s just one game, but the early read is clear: Santiago Trouet and Adam Clark look like major additions alongside Kamardine and Pinkins.
In Other News...
Ole Miss Heads To Georgia With One Defensive Problem Looming
Ole Miss left Auburn with a 45-15 win that looked comfortable on the scoreboard, but the tape gave the Rebels a few reasons for concern. The defense had trouble getting off the field on third down and had a hard time keeping Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown from extending drives, even in a game that eventually tilted heavily in Ole Miss favor.
Those issues become a lot more pressing with Georgia next on the schedule, because the Bulldogs bring a different kind of test and a quarterback in Gunner Stockton who can punish lapses if the Rebels repeat the same mistakes. For a team with College Football Playoff hopes, the margin for error shrinks fast, and Ole Miss will need a cleaner defensive showing if it wants to leave Athens with its season momentum intact. [Read more 🡒]
Kirby Smart Just Framed Georgias Biggest Ole Miss Problem
Kirby Smart spent part of the buildup to Georgias Week 10 trip to Ole Miss pointing directly at the problem the Rebels can present with Trinidad Chambliss. The Bulldogs coach praised the quarterbacks decision-making, accuracy and athleticism, and said Chambliss brings the kind of anticipation and experience that can make a defense work all night long. It is the sort of scouting report that usually sounds routine until it comes from a coach who has spent years preparing for every wrinkle a spread offense can throw at him.
For Ole Miss, the timing of that attention matters because this is the stage where Chambliss can turn a tough matchup into a defining one. Georgia knows what it is facing, and the Rebels know the spotlight will be on their quarterback when the game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC. Smarts comments only sharpen the sense that Ole Miss has a real chance to stress a defense if Chambliss stays poised and keeps making the right reads. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Has A Defensive Problem Better Teams Will Target
Ole Miss left Auburn with a 45-15 win, but the box score did not tell the whole story. The Rebels spent too much of the first half chasing Auburn on third downs, and that has become a familiar issue for a defense that sits near the bottom of the SEC in third-down conversion defense. Against a more disciplined offense, those extra snaps can turn into real trouble.
The second half brought a better response, and that adjustment helped Ole Miss pull away and finish the job. Still, the concern lingers because better teams will notice the same soft spots, especially one as complete as Georgia. For a Rebels defense that has shown it can tighten up after halftime, the bigger question is whether it can do it early enough when the margin gets thinner. [Read more 🡒]