No. 22 Rebels Overwhelmed by No. 5 Tennessee in SEC Opener, Suffer First Loss of Chris Beard Era

The Ole Miss Rebels were smothered by a strong Tennessee Volunteers team on Saturday night in Knoxville.

The No. 22 Ole Miss Rebels suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday in a 90-64 blowout against the No. 5 Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville.

The Rebels (13-1, 0-1 SEC) trailed 18-6 early in the first half on Saturday before battling back and forth with the Volunteers (11-3, 1-0 SEC), cutting the deficit to 34-30 just before halftime. After a couple of shots from Tennessee, however, it gained a 40-31 advantage at the intermission, including a buzzer-beater three from guard Jahmai Mashack.

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That three to end the half marked the third of five-straight makes from beyond the arc for Tennessee that stretched into the second half. The Vols had four points after halftime before Ole Miss had its first possession, and they held a 54-36 lead by the first media timeout of the second frame.

From that point on, the Rebels were unable to mount any form of comeback en route to the convincing win by Tennessee.

Ole Miss was led in scoring by forward Jaemyn Brakefield with 22 points, and he was joined in double digits by guards Jaylen Murray (11) and Allen Flanigan (10). As a team, the Rebels shot 42.6 percent from the field and 37.5 from three compared to percentages of 47.2 and 36.7 from Tennessee, respectively.

Rebels' Beard Ready For 'Second Season' To Begin

Saturday marks the first loss of the Chris Beard era at Ole Miss, and the Rebels will return to Southeastern Conference play on Jan. 10 when they play host to the Florida Gators in their home conference opener. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. CT at the SJB Pavilion, and the game will be televised on SEC Network.