Ole Miss basketball moved to eight SEC wins with a 72-68 victory over South Carolina. It was the Rebels' second consecutive road win after beating LSU at the weekend. The Gamecocks stayed without a SEC win, but its past results had shown it wouldn't be easy for Ole Miss.
Chris Beard was happy with the performance but knows it wasn't its best. However, winning is the most important thing, and when you don't play your best and can do it, you know you have a special culture in the program.
Beard spoke about the standout performer, Malik Dia, who had another clutch game for the Rebels and could be a massive part of a deep SEC and NCAA Tournament run.
"It was a step in the right direction, I think not only for Dia's season, but career. We coach Dia hard. A lot of players around the country probably wouldn't want to, or could, take the high expectations we put on him. It's no reason other than we believe in him . . . to come out there and have the poise, confidence, belief in himself to play his best in winning time the last four, five or six minutes of the game was a great step for him."Chris Beard
Dia came off the bench in the second half after getting into foul trouble earlier, and Beard had no choice but to take him out. After coming back in, Dia scored the Rebels' following 12 points.
"It's an unbelievable blessing to be out there in winning time. Coming out and playing in that time, it's just knowing when it's time to score, when to be aggressive and get to the paint."Malik Dia
Ole Miss's next opponent is its in-state rival, Mississippi State, at the Pavilion. The latter is looking for revenge after losing the reverse game by three points.