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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Tuesday, November 9
Oxford, Miss.
6:30 PM
Ole Miss
1-0,0-0SEC
82
vs
61
New Orleans
0-1,0-0Southland
1
2
F
New Orleans
31
30
61
Ole Miss
43
39
82
Men’s Basketball Flies High, Cruises to 82-61 Win Over New Orleans
11/9/2021 | Men's Basketball
Box Score<i class="icon-paper"></i> Final Stats (PDF)<i class="icon-camera"></i> Photos<i class="icon-video"></i> Highlights<i class="icon-video"></i> Kermit Davis Postgame
Rebels Shot 53.1 Percent Overall, 40.9 Percent from Three
OXFORD, Miss. – The Ole Miss men's basketball team started off its 2021-22 campaign in high-flying fashion, electrifying the crowd at SJB Pavilion with big dunks and a lights-out shooting performance as the Rebels defeated New Orleans, 82-61, on Tuesday night.
Ole Miss (1-0) shot a blistering 53.1 percent on the night, its best in a season opener since knocking them down at a 54.1 percent clip in Kermit Davis' first regular season game as Ole Miss head coach on Nov. 10, 2018 vs. Western Michigan. The Privateers were no slouches, receiving a game-high 21-point outing from Derek St. Hilaire and shooting 44.4 percent overall themselves, but 17 Rebel points off 19 UNO turnovers proved too much to overcome against an Ole Miss offense that hit nine trifectas, threw down 18 dunks and tallied 23 assists on 34 made field goals.
"Thought New Orleans was a hard and physical team, a team that a lot of people picked to win the Southland," Davis said. "I thought in the first half that we got over 40, but I didn't think our ball movement was great. We made some good individual plays. We saw in the second half the ball moved better. We almost had six guys in double figures tonight and everybody got a chance to play in the game. A positive of this team since we got together in June has been our assist-to-turnovers stays the same, because it's been that way the three times that we've played."
New Orleans took early control of the game, using an 11-0 run in the opening minutes to hold their largest lead of the game at 17-11 with 11:00 to go in the first half. From there, the Rebel offense kicked into high gear, ripping off what amounted to a 20-2 run that included a 14-0 stretch from 8:22 to 5:00. Included in the larger run were three of the 18 Rebel dunks on the night, which accounted for 22 percent of all Ole Miss scoring. Matthew Murrell (five points) threw one down on a fastbreak to tie the game 17-17, and from then it was the Austin Crowley show.
The junior guard had a stellar night, ending with a career-high 13 points and a 3-of-4 clip from beyond the arc, but most of that total came from a scorching performance during the big first half Rebel run. Crowley scored 11 points in just 1:58 during the run, going a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc and throwing down a fastbreak dunk of his own for good measure.
From that point, New Orleans could only pull within single digits twice more all game as the Rebels rode the momentum all the way to a 21-point victory. Ole Miss had five score in double-digits: Crowley (13), Jarkel Joiner (12 points, three rebounds, two assists, 2-of-4 3PT), and Rebel transfers Nysier Brooks (11 points, four rebounds, one assist, one block), Jaemyn Brakefield (10 points, three rebounds, two assists, one block) and Tye Fagan (10 points, two assists, one steal 2-of-2 3PT).
"I think we've got really good depth on our team. I really do," Davis said. "We're trying to figure it all out like a lot of teams. I think we've got 11 guys or so that we can put in a game and they're fighting for possessions. Depth is a huge thing with foul trouble down the stretch, so I like where we are with that. We just gotta keep working."
All 14 Rebels saw playing time on Tuesday night, and impressively eight of them had multiple assists to help tally those 23 total dimes for Ole Miss. Leading the way in sharing the ball with four assists apiece were Crowley and Luis Rodriguez (nine points, four rebounds, four assists, three steals). The duo also both notched three steals apiece of Ole Miss' 10 total on the evening.
"I think we had 33 deflections tonight and our goal was 31, so I thought especially in the second half that we really go into transition," Davis said. "We dunked some balls and played over the top. I thought we had some great, exciting plays on the break, throwing it over the top, guys really sprinting, playing really unselfish. I think that'll really keep growing and this is going to be a really fun team for our fans to watch."
Ole Miss will remain at home when it plays host to Charleston Southern for a Friday night contest inside SJB Pavilion. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT and the game will stream live on SEC Network+.
For the latest news and updates regarding Ole Miss Men's Basketball, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissMBB, on Facebook at Ole Miss Men's Basketball and on Instagram at olemissmbb.
Ole Miss (1-0) shot a blistering 53.1 percent on the night, its best in a season opener since knocking them down at a 54.1 percent clip in Kermit Davis' first regular season game as Ole Miss head coach on Nov. 10, 2018 vs. Western Michigan. The Privateers were no slouches, receiving a game-high 21-point outing from Derek St. Hilaire and shooting 44.4 percent overall themselves, but 17 Rebel points off 19 UNO turnovers proved too much to overcome against an Ole Miss offense that hit nine trifectas, threw down 18 dunks and tallied 23 assists on 34 made field goals.
"Thought New Orleans was a hard and physical team, a team that a lot of people picked to win the Southland," Davis said. "I thought in the first half that we got over 40, but I didn't think our ball movement was great. We made some good individual plays. We saw in the second half the ball moved better. We almost had six guys in double figures tonight and everybody got a chance to play in the game. A positive of this team since we got together in June has been our assist-to-turnovers stays the same, because it's been that way the three times that we've played."
New Orleans took early control of the game, using an 11-0 run in the opening minutes to hold their largest lead of the game at 17-11 with 11:00 to go in the first half. From there, the Rebel offense kicked into high gear, ripping off what amounted to a 20-2 run that included a 14-0 stretch from 8:22 to 5:00. Included in the larger run were three of the 18 Rebel dunks on the night, which accounted for 22 percent of all Ole Miss scoring. Matthew Murrell (five points) threw one down on a fastbreak to tie the game 17-17, and from then it was the Austin Crowley show.
The junior guard had a stellar night, ending with a career-high 13 points and a 3-of-4 clip from beyond the arc, but most of that total came from a scorching performance during the big first half Rebel run. Crowley scored 11 points in just 1:58 during the run, going a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc and throwing down a fastbreak dunk of his own for good measure.
From that point, New Orleans could only pull within single digits twice more all game as the Rebels rode the momentum all the way to a 21-point victory. Ole Miss had five score in double-digits: Crowley (13), Jarkel Joiner (12 points, three rebounds, two assists, 2-of-4 3PT), and Rebel transfers Nysier Brooks (11 points, four rebounds, one assist, one block), Jaemyn Brakefield (10 points, three rebounds, two assists, one block) and Tye Fagan (10 points, two assists, one steal 2-of-2 3PT).
"I think we've got really good depth on our team. I really do," Davis said. "We're trying to figure it all out like a lot of teams. I think we've got 11 guys or so that we can put in a game and they're fighting for possessions. Depth is a huge thing with foul trouble down the stretch, so I like where we are with that. We just gotta keep working."
All 14 Rebels saw playing time on Tuesday night, and impressively eight of them had multiple assists to help tally those 23 total dimes for Ole Miss. Leading the way in sharing the ball with four assists apiece were Crowley and Luis Rodriguez (nine points, four rebounds, four assists, three steals). The duo also both notched three steals apiece of Ole Miss' 10 total on the evening.
"I think we had 33 deflections tonight and our goal was 31, so I thought especially in the second half that we really go into transition," Davis said. "We dunked some balls and played over the top. I thought we had some great, exciting plays on the break, throwing it over the top, guys really sprinting, playing really unselfish. I think that'll really keep growing and this is going to be a really fun team for our fans to watch."
Ole Miss will remain at home when it plays host to Charleston Southern for a Friday night contest inside SJB Pavilion. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT and the game will stream live on SEC Network+.
For the latest news and updates regarding Ole Miss Men's Basketball, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissMBB, on Facebook at Ole Miss Men's Basketball and on Instagram at olemissmbb.
Team Stats
UNO
OM
FG%
.444
.531
3FG%
.333
.409
FT%
.800
.556
RB
30
33
TO
19
12
STL
6
10
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G/F
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