Dominance in all facets of the game propelled the No. 19 Ole Miss men’s basketball team to a 77-46 win over in-state foe Southern Miss on Saturday.
Both teams came into the contest short-handed — the Golden Eagles notably lacked veteran guard Neftali Alvarez while the Rebels were without standout sharp-shooter Matthew Murrell. But portal additions shined for Ole Miss (9-1) as Virginia Tech transfer Sean Pedulla scored 18 points and Sam Houston State transfer Davon Barnes grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Rebels to victory over the Golden Eagles (4-6) inside the Gulf Coast Coliseum in Biloxi.
Ole Miss jumped out to a 16-2 lead over Southern Miss and never looked back. Pedulla splashed five triples in the first 20 minutes and Jaylen Murray complimented his teammate’s stellar outing with 14 points in the half.
Chris Beard’s club looked to be running away with the contest until a Denijay Harris-led Southern Miss squad began to dig itself out of a hole. Trailing by just seven with 30 seconds left in the first half, the Golden Eagles were in striking distance. But a Murray triple reignited a sense of momentum for Ole Miss and gave the Rebels a 38-28 advantage at the midway break.
The second half was all Ole Miss. The Rebels opened things up on a 9-0 run as efforts by Southern Miss to compete were thwarted by four straight turnovers early in the period.
Another successful three-pointer by Pedulla put Ole Miss up 54-29 with 13:06 left in the game. Golden Eagle guard Cobie Montgomery landed a triple, Harris made a three, and Jose Benitez converted on a forced turnover to counter the Rebels’ surge in scoring, but the efforts ultimately proved fruitless.
Southern Miss was unable to cut the deficit any lower than 18 points and Ole Miss pressed on the gas to run away a 31-point victor.
Going into the game, Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard emphasized how important it was to showcase his team on the Coast, an area rife with Ole Miss faithful. He echoed those sentiments after Saturday’s contest, saying the game makes so much sense for both sides.
“I don’t like to play friends. We don’t seek that out, but I think the game makes a lot of sense,” Beard said. “Coach (Jay) Ladner and I are friends. I’ve got a lot of respect for him … but the game makes a lot of sense. It’s the best thing for basketball in the state of Mississippi. Both schools have alumni and fans in this part of the state.”
For Ladner, the game posed an opportunity to help his club endure some battle scars as they prepare for Sun Belt play. Though Ladner was not thrilled with the outcome, he contended that his squad would ultimately benefit from taking on a strong SEC opponent down the road.
“They’re well-prepared and hard to score against. They’re a top-20 team … maybe better than that. They may be a top-15 team. This is an NCAA Tournament-level team,” Ladner said. “This is going to help us because we’re not going to play anybody in our league like that. We won’t play anybody with that type of physicality. There are some good teams in our league, but there’s nobody of that caliber in our league.
Ladner’s crew ran up against a strong defensive force and an offense that was red-hot from deep in spurts. Southern Miss only made 33% of its shots while coughing up the ball 17 times. Ole Miss played much cleaner ball, knocking down 45% of its shots and scoring 24 points off the Golden Eagles’ turnovers.
The Rebels won the rebounding battle 40-34, but the Golden Eagles mounted three more blocks, one of the lone statistical wins of the day for the black and gold.
Harris was a bright spot for Southern Miss in the loss, finishing with 16 points and seven rebounds. In Murrell’s absence, Ole Miss upped playing time for freshman Eduardo Klafke (18 minutes). Murray (14 points) and Jaemyn Brakefield (10 points) joined Pedulla with double figures on the scoreboard.
Next up for Ole Miss is a Tuesday night home battle against Southern University at 6 p.m. The game will be aired on SEC Network+ and participating SuperTalk Mississippi stations. The Golden Eagles will return to Hattiesburg to face Lamar at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
