Ole Miss men's basketball might be down bad in a 9-game skid, but that isn't stopping forward Malik Dia from clinching some personal records along the way.
Dia has been a force every time he hits the hardwood, but his heroics haven't been enough to stop Ole Miss's bleeding.
While coming in clutch in most games, Dia unlocked a personal stat win. For three consecutive games, the Rebels forward has scored 20 points.
Dia's career-high came with 32 against Mississippi State, 20 at Texas A&M, and 24 against Florida, marking his seventh game this season in which he has scored 20.
Coach Chris Beard lauded his star player for the feat, commenting how some wins with it would have been the ultimate accolade for the whole team.
"I'm really proud of Malik, too. This is three straight individual games that he is playing with a lot of courage, a lot of aggressiveness on the offense, and continuing to improve. His heart is in the right place," Beard said in his post-game presser.
"I wish that his individual performance could relate into a team win because I know that's what's most important to Malik. But he is playing some really good basketball right now. I'm proud of the big fella."
Malik Dia credits teammates, coaches
While Beard has been constantly holding other Ole Miss players accountable for not stepping up, Dia instead credited his teammates when talking about his categorical performance as of lately.
"I give all credit to my teammates. It's my teammates who trust in me. My coaching staff who trusts in me and puts me in situations, and then just me being who I am. Once again, super grateful to the coaching staff, my teammates and the man above."
For the record, AJ Storr has been the only player besides Dia with multiple 20+ point games this season. Ilias Kamardine did it just once.
The season might be as good as over for Ole Miss, but what both the Rebels' star players do in their last two games decides if they can have a run in March at all.