Ole Miss fell to their third defeat in a row in SEC play after starting 4-0 in the conference. It was a tough loss for Chris Beard and the team, keeping it close for most of the game, with some glaring issues that resulted in the loss.
The team needs to get back on the horse. Despite losing three games in a row, they have been competitive in all of them. Here is what Coach Beard said to the media after the loss.
Chris Beard: They took almost twice as many free throws as us, so we’ll have to look at that from a coaching standpoint and a playing standpoint. It is really hard to win in the SEC when the opponent shoots more than twice as many free throws as you. The second thing in the game is that they had two special performances. I’m not great with names, but Bates and Grill had special games. I think if those guys go nine for 15 from the three-point line between them, I don’t think they’ll lose many games in the SEC. So those are two of the best players in the league. They had A-plus performances tonight, and it’s just a little bit too much for us to overcome. So the free-throw differential and two special performances by Missouri on the offensive end were really kind of the difference in the game from our point of view.
Q: On how Ole Miss handled the defensive side of the game
Chris Beard: Yeah, I agree. We were aware of that. Missouri did a great job putting pressure on the defense tonight. The free throw line was their best friend. And again, they had two special performances. If those two guys shoot the ball like that, as the opponent you’re going to have to have something special go on in the game. You know, I thought our guys fought, basically played even in the second half. We did a pretty good job late, just kind of playing it to the bone, giving us a chance. Won a few games like that over the years. We just kind of hang around. Had to use our timeouts in the second half to kind of stop the bleeding, so we didn’t have any late. But again, just congratulate Missouri. They got to the free throw line tonight, had two special performances from two of the best players in the league. We didn’t get to the free throw line. And without Dre Davis tonight and without Matt Murrell being full speed, it was just too much to overcome.
Q: On defending against a player like Caleb Grill
Chris Beard: Well, first, give the two players credit, really good players. I think from our point of view, we did make some mistakes. We had a couple hand-down, man-down shots. You’ve got to at least contest the shot. That’s going to lower their percentages at least a little bit. So I would hesitate from saying that it was all our mistakes. You know, I’m one of these guys that’s not going to sit up here and tell you about why we didn’t win the game. You know, we didn’t win the day because Missouri was the better team. They outrebounded us. They got to the free throw line significantly more than us, which is an indication that they were the more aggressive team. And again, two special performances by two of the best players in the league. If those two guys have those games on the same night together,Dennis will have some great evenings after games around here.
Q: On the changes made after the Dre Davis injury news
Chris Beard: He’s just one of our best players. He’s a lot like y’all’s best players are for you guys here. He’s somebody we really depend on on the defensive end and on the offensive end. So he did everything he could this week to give himself a chance to play, all the way down to trying to go through pregame warm-ups. He’s just banged up right now. Certainly not an excuse. Every team in the country is not at full speed. But for us tonight, it’s going to be a lot to overcome when, again, they get to the free throw line like they did, and they have two special performances on offense. You know, there was too much to overcome for us tonight. I thought our guys did a good job hanging in there, though, on a night where I don’t think Missouri ever really separated on us till the end. We kept hanging around. There were some pivotal plays in the game. I think we got it down to four at one point, and then they went on a four or five-0 run. And I thought our guys did a good job playing it all the way to the; play to the bone is what we call it, and played all the way to the buzzer or horn or whatever it is. So, again, congratulate Missouri. I don’t think there are a lot of teams in the league that will beat them on a night where they accomplished about four things on that stat sheet that were too hard for us to overcome.
Q: On how to get back on track after three straight losses
Chris Beard: Yeah, we just stay the course. This is the SEC, a two-game winning streak, and it’s free breakfast burritos in the morning, and people want to throw you a parade. You know, a two-game losing streak, you feel like the sun won’t come up tomorrow. So it’s short-term memory. It’s just staying the course, the same thing we do after wins. We just get back to work. Right now we’re in a little slide. We’ve played three of the country's best teams, so it’s understandable in this league. We just got to keep working. It’s a long season. It’s an 18-round fight. We’ve got to play better and most importantly, we just got to stay the course.