Chris Beard: Ole Miss Basketball's 'Team Game Plan' Helped Claim Win Over Queens

The Ole Miss Rebels had to rely on their paint presence to come away with another non-conference win on Saturday night.

Nov 21, 2024; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels head coach Chris Beard reacts during the second half against the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles at The Sandy and John Black Pavilion at Ole Miss. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The three-pointers were not falling for the Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday night, but they were able to adapt.

Ole Miss took down Queens by a final score of 80-62 at the SJB Pavilion in Oxford, and 42 of its points came in the paint after a night where it only shot 25.9 percent (7-of-27) from three. That struggle from beyond the arc paired with Queens' 11 made threes meant Ole Miss had to adjust.

"I think tonight, we got too spread out," Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard said postgame. "We gave two of their best three shooters a big-time night shooting the ball. Those guys hit nine or 10 threes against us. A lot of those were on rotations, a couple were on missed assignments, transition defense. Got to guard the three-point line better.

"I do think we got more aggressive in the second half, which was promising on a night where we turned the ball over 10 or less."

Beard has stated previously that the three is a strength of his team's offense, but some nights just aren't your night from downtown. That's when a strong post presence pays off.

"It's a fine line. We're a three-point shooting team," Beard said. "There's no doubt about it; that's one of our offensive weapons. The ball wasn't going in for us great tonight. Would have liked to have a better percentage of offensive rebounds, but you've got to do something on a night where shots aren't going down.

"Tonight, what did we do? We took care of the ball to get more shots than they did, and we made them turn it over. I thought in the second half, we had a real team game plan understanding that we were trying to get the ball in the paint."

This offensive versatility will pay off in league play for the Rebels, but with one non-conference game left to go, it's clear that Beard's team is still a work-in-progress in some areas. Still, its performance has been good enough to earn a record of 11-1 in late December, meaning that Ole Miss is 24-1 outside of SEC play dating back to last season. Its lone loss came on Black Friday this year in a two-point heartbreaker against Purdue.

Ole Miss is off until next Saturday when it travels to take on the Memphis Tigers. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. CT on ESPN2.