Mississippi State is fresh off some difficult losses at home. For the Bulldogs, losers of four of the last six games, the recipe for beating Ole Miss was rebounding. By the end of the game, Ole Miss was on the losing end of both the rebounding margin and the scoreboard. The Bulldogs swept the regular season series, beating the Rebels 81-71 before a capacity crowd inside the SJB Pavilion.
Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard used the term “soft” to define his team's effort, and his players echoed this sentiment.
“Not taking anything away from Mississippi State, they have great role definition. They are a winning team. Who brought their ‘A’ game today? This team wasn’t well coached today.”
The Rebels, 19-7, 8-5 SEC, will look to bounce back when it faces Vanderbilt next Saturday in Nashville. While the loss shouldn’t hurt the Rebels in the long run, it will add some pressure to the two upcoming road games against the Commodores and top-ranked Auburn.
Today in Oxford, the Bulldogs beat Ole Miss in nearly every statistical category and simply played like the team that wanted it more.
“The togetherness. Our kids embodied that today,” Mississippi State head coach Chris Jans said following the win.
At one point in the second half, the Bulldogs outscored Ole Miss 36-17.
Mississippi State was superb from the floor, finishing 43 percent, and was led by RJ Melendez, who had a game-high 17 points and four rebounds.
The Bulldogs led for the entire second half, as the Rebels would cut the game to single digits at one point early in the second half. That would be as close as the Rebels would get.
It was a tough night for Matthew Murrell and Malik Dia, two offensive leaders on the team. Murrell would finish with six and Dia with nine points. Neither would be a factor for the Rebels.
One issue Ole Miss must repair is effort. Tonight, inside the SJB Pavilion, Mississippi State simply wanted it more. The Bulldogs played like a team that needed to right the ship, and that is exactly what they did.
Coming into the game, ESPN NCAA expert Joe Lunardi had the Rebels just outside the teams projected as high as a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. With the loss, Ole Miss should not suffer a significant blow in its NCAA Tournament projection or NET ranking.
Ole Miss entered the game No. 22 in the NET. Depending on how the teams around them finished, Ole Miss should be fine coming into the game undefeated in games outside quadrant one. That will not change after the game today.
The Rebels have home games against Oklahoma and Tennessee and road games against Vanderbilt, Auburn, and Florida.