Ole Miss officially has no chance to make the NCAA Tournament after falling to Texas A&M 80-71 in round two of the SEC Tournament on Thursday.
The 10th-seeded Rebels’ dismal showing on the glass (20-12, 7-12 SEC) gave the 7-seed Aggies (20-13, 10-9 SEC) 21 second-chance points and a big win to punch their ticket to the Big Dance. Untimely turnovers and missed free throws were also a byproduct of the misfortunes Chris Beard’s team experienced in the loss.
A relatively dead-even first half ensued with both teams duking it out in a gritty slugfest. Ole Miss, with a statement to make after being blown out by Texas A&M 86-60 at home just five days ago, looked like a completely different team. Whether or not it had something to do with their head coach signing an extension with the program, squashing all rumors that he could be dipping Oxford for another job, the group played with a renewed intensity.
Both teams went back and forth in the first 13 minutes of the half. A five-point swing by Ole Miss guard Jaylen Murray put the Rebels up 23-20 with 6:48 left before the break. Texas A&M then went on a 9-0 run for the next two-and-a-half minutes to start to separate. The Rebels countered. An aggressive couple of possessions from Jaemyn Brakefield and a big triple from Matthew Murrell knotted things up 31-31 at the 2:47 mark.
Ole Miss went scoreless for the remainder of the half. Layups by Manny Obaseki and Tyrece Radford in that stint gave the Aggies a 35-31 advantage at the intermission. Ole Miss had four blocks in the first 20 minutes of action but was still overmatched down low, surrendering 22 points in the paint.
The Rebels cut into the deficit in a second half that saw a slow start from both offenses. Down by just one point with 15:43 left in the game, Beard was unable to find consistent scoring from any of his players. Ole Miss put a mere two points on the board in the next five and a half minutes but somehow managed to remain within arms reach as Texas A&M was plagued by missed shots as well.
A pair of successful free throws from Murrell had Ole Miss down 47-44 with 10 minutes remaining and the Rebels looked to turn the page, but to no avail. Scoring woes continued for Ole Miss while Texas A&M began to crash to the basket and score points down low to take a nine-point lead.
The Aggies, working to officially stamp their ticket to the NCAA Tournament, looked to capitalize off Ole Miss’ offensive struggles and put the game away. A triple by Radford gave Texas A&M a 61-48 lead, the team’s largest advantage of the night, with under five minutes to go. During the five-minute span in which the Aggies’ lead went from three to 13, Ole Miss missed four free throws and turned the ball over twice.
Just when things seemed out of reach, the pendulum swung the other way with the Rebels finding a much-needed offensive spark paired with a Texas A&M drought. Murrell capped off a 10-0 Ole Miss run to put the team within one possession with 2:16 left. In that stretch, Texas A&M’s Solomon Washington had fouled out of the game after having posted 13 points and nine rebounds — a huge blow for the Aggies.
Texas A&M, however, was not willing to let this game get away from them. The Aggies, known to get to the charity stripe, went to their bread and butter, closing out the game by making 17 of 20 free throws in the final 1:48 of action to stave off a comeback by their counterpart.
Leading the way for Ole Miss in the loss was Brakefield with 23 points and seven rebounds. Allen Flanigan (17), Murrell (14), and Jaylen Murray (10) also reached double figures. The four players accounted for 90% of the Rebels’ scoring.
Mississippi State transfer Andersson Garcia bullied the Rebels down low in the contest. He recorded a double-double consisting of 11 points and a whopping 14 boards. Wade Taylor led the team in scoring with 20 points.
Rebounding, which has been a consistent issue for Ole Miss all season, was the biggest difference in the game. The Aggies out-rebounded the Rebels 48-32 with 21 of the boards coming on the offensive end, setting up 21 second-chance points. In a game where Ole Miss desperately needed scoring in long spurts, typically guaranteed points at the free throw line did not come easy as the team only made 57% of shots at the charity stripe.
While Ole Miss will have the option to continue postseason play in the National Invitation Tournament, Beard has not yet announced whether or not he would accept a bid. The team began the season 13-0 and began SEC play on a high note, but went 2-9 in February and March to play themselves out of a chance to appear in the Big Dance.
