Ole Miss suffered its second consecutive loss on the road to Vanderbilt, going down 77-72. A sluggish first half was the undoing, down 19 points at one stage.
However, the Rebels took its first lead in the second half, but the Commodores held Chris Beard's team to 0 points in five minutes. Beard was left frustrated and spoke to the media after the game.
Opening Statement
Beard: Congratulate Vanderbilt on a good home win. Said it a couple times this week in the required press conferences I think (Vanderbilt’s Mark Byington) should be in consideration for National Coach of the Year. First year, eight transfers, one freshman. Literally kind of flipping the field of Vanderbilt basketball. Good team. Only two losses at home, I think Mississippi State and Auburn. Beat some really good teams on their home floor. They added another one today.
On the game
Beard: I thought the difference in the game was obviously our poor start. They were aggressive out of the gates and we needed to take that first punch a little bit better than we did. I thought the free throw differential was obvious. They didn’t foul much and they got to the free throw line, so we have to look at that from the film. You give Vanderbilt credit for being aggressive. In terms of the overall free throw discrepancy it’s something we’ll just have to look at. But it was obviously a factor in the game when they make more free throws than we shoot. Two aggressive teams playing.
On Chris Manon
Beard: for them (Manon), man, really impressed with him this week in preparation. He’s one of the best players in the SEC that no one’s talking about. Obviously today he just filled up the stat sheet playing about half the game. Congrats to Vanderbilt. Good home win in the SEC.
Q: On the turnovers
Beard: When our starting point guard has five turnovers in a game it’s going to be very difficult for Ole Miss to win. I would give Vanderbilt’s defense credit for that.
Q: On Dia's return to Vanderbilt
Beard: I know Dia started his career here. Was a different coaching staff, different time. I know he has a lot of respect for the people here that talked to him about that kind of during the recruiting process. But from my point of view nothing going on different this week with Dia.