'Take Care of The Ball!' Ole Miss Coach Chris Beard Breaks Down Loss to Auburn
OXFORD, Miss. -- The No. 22 Ole Miss Rebels are licking their wounds after the No. 13 Auburn Tigers pummeled Chris Beard's squad 82-59 on the road Saturday night. It has been tough sledding for the Rebels since Southeastern Conference play started, as Ole Miss is currently winless on the road in three SEC matchups.
Shots were not going in for the Rebels, and it did not help that they put themselves in a hole early by committing six turnovers in the first eight minutes of play. During his postgame press conference, Beard was adamant about two things following the loss to the Tigers.
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"We gotta stay the course," Beard told reporters. "We've been a good offensive team in a lot of our segments in games this year. Tonight, obviously we weren't. It starts with taking care of the ball. Doesn't matter what kind of defense you're playing against, or what your offense is doing or not doing, if you hand the ball to the other team you don't get a shot on goal and there is no offense.
"We gotta take care of the ball. I think offensively we just had too many possessions where we were just kind of standing around. It was a low possession game. I don't want to speak for coach [Bruce Pearl], but with [Auburn's] full-court pressure, you don't get the number of possessions you normally get in other games. In those games, there is a high priority to have great offensive possessions, and we did not early."
Beard knows his team can score, as Ole Miss recorded 103 points versus the Florida Gators earlier this month, but it is impossible to get points on the board when your offense is getting suffocated by the opposing defense.
The Rebels will get a chance to turn things around on Wednesday night when they host the Arkansas Razorbacks (10-8, 1-4 SEC) in The Sandy and John Black Pavilion. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. CT and the game will be televised on ESPNU.
