Ole Miss head basketball coach Chris Beard continues his efforts to grow the game in Mississippi.
First reported by Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports, the Rebels will be taking on Colorado State in the Landers Center in Southaven on Saturday, November 16. While the contest will occur during the heat of football season, Rebel fans have no need to fret as the game will tip off during Lane Kiffin and company’s bye week.
The scheduling move comes after Beard advocated for playing more games in the Magnolia State outside of universities’ home arenas one season ago.
In addition, Ole Miss will play Southern Miss again this year in the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum. USM head coach Jay Ladner confirmed that the two teams will meet up on the hardwood as they did last December. The result of that game was an 89-72 Ole Miss victory that propelled the Rebels to a 12-0 start on the season.
“I think it’s the right thing to do for basketball in the state of Mississippi,” Beard said after last year’s Gulf Coast contest. “There’s responsibility just for basketball in the state of Mississippi. There are so many high school programs, junior college programs, and some great four-year universities. I think it’s the right thing for us to do to play each other and promote basketball in the state … We hope to continue this tradition of playing games in the state of Mississippi.”
Ole Miss was perfect in non-conference play last season and went on to amass a 20-12 record overall. After missing the 2024 NCAA Tournament, Beard opted to keep his team out of other postseason tournaments as he began to prepare for the upcoming campaign.
The Rebels return veterans Matthew Murrell, Jaemyn Brakefield, and Jaylen Murray, among others, and have added a slew of transfer additions to build a roster poised to compete during March Madness.
