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MBB | Rick Barnes Postgame at Ole Miss (3.5.25)
MBB | Jordan Gainey Postgame vs. Ole Miss (3.5.25)
MBB | Felix Okpara Postgame vs. Ole Miss (3.5.25)
MBB | Highlights: Vols 76, Ole Miss 78 (3.5.25)
#4 Vols Drop 78-76 Heartbreaker at Ole Miss
Lanier Selected as a Jerry West Award Finalist
Hoops Central: #4 Tennessee at Ole Miss
Vols Move to Fourth in National Polls
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
41 | 35 | 76 |
|
|
36 | 42 | 78 |
| Game Stats | UT | UM |
|---|---|---|
| FG% | .463 | .456 |
| 3FG% | .387 | .263 |
| FT% | .824 | .786 |
| RB | 33 | 37 |
| TO | 8 | 5 |
| STL | 4 | 3 |
Brakefield propels Ole Miss to 78-76 win over No. 4 Tennessee
After Ole Miss defeats No. 4 Tennessee, the fans storm the court to celebrate with the team.
OXFORD, Miss. — — Jaemyn Brakefield scored all 19 of his points in the final 11 minutes, including a tiebreaking basket with 7 seconds remaining that lifted Mississippi over No. 4 Tennessee 78-76 on Wednesday night.
Brakefield rebounded a missed 3-pointer from Sean Pedulla and fought through traffic inside to convert the decisive layup. Malik Dia and Dre Davis had 13 points apiece for Ole Miss (21-9, 10-7 Southeastern Conference), and Matthew Murrell added 12.
The Rebels are 5-0 in games decided by four points or fewer since late January.
Tennessee (24-6, 11-6) had an opportunity in the last few seconds, but a short running jumper by Igor Milicic Jr. bounced off the rim. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak.
Jordan Gainey scored 17 points, Chaz Lanier had 15 and Felix Okpara added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Volunteers. Tennessee led 41-36 at halftime and 56-49 with 10:38 left before Ole Miss rallied.
Takeaways
Tennessee: One more win ensures a double bye in the SEC Tournament. But this loss could hurt Tennessee’s chances at a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Mississippi: In his second season, coach Chris Beard’s team has built an impressive resume. The Rebels have five wins over AP Top 25 teams from three power conferences (SEC, ACC and Big 12). They have locked up a single bye in the SEC Tournament.
Key moment
After trailing by two with five minutes left, Ole Miss went on an 8-2 run that included six points from Davis to take a 74-70 lead with 2:35 to go. The Rebels never trailed again.
Key stats
There were 12 lead changes and the game was tied 13 times. … Tennessee made 25 field goals off 23 assists, highlighted by 15 from Zakai Ziegler. … Ole Miss outscored the Vols 46-20 in the paint.
Up next
Both teams conclude the regular season Saturday. Tennessee hosts South Carolina, and Ole Miss visits No. 5 Florida.
——
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Game Information
2024-25 Southeastern Conference Standings
Men’s College Basketball News
| 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|
| TENN | 41 | 35 | 76 |
| MISS | 36 | 42 | 78 |
| Team | CONF | GB | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auburn | 15-2 | – | 27-3 |
| Florida | 13-4 | 2 | 26-4 |
| Alabama | 12-5 | 3 | 23-7 |
| Tennessee | 11-6 | 4 | 24-6 |
| Texas A&M | 10-7 | 5 | 21-9 |
| Missouri | 10-7 | 5 | 21-9 |
| Ole Miss | 10-7 | 5 | 21-9 |
| Kentucky | 9-8 | 6 | 20-10 |
| Mississippi State | 8-9 | 7 | 20-10 |
| Vanderbilt | 8-9 | 7 | 20-10 |
| Georgia | 7-10 | 8 | 19-11 |
| Arkansas | 7-10 | 8 | 18-12 |
| Texas | 6-11 | 9 | 17-13 |
| Oklahoma | 5-12 | 10 | 18-12 |
| LSU | 3-14 | 12 | 14-16 |
| South Carolina | 2-15 | 13 | 12-18 |
Rick Barnes: Tennessee’s defense was ‘soft’ in loss at Ole Miss
GrantRamey
Rick Barnes stopped himself mid-sentence. Asked Wednesday night about all the fouls No. 4 Tennessee committed at the rim against Ole Miss, and how many times the Rebels scored and got three-point play opportunities, the head coach had only one way he could describe it.
“We play like we were — that’s soft, honestly,” Barnes said during his postgame press conference after the Vols lost 78-76 at SBJ Pavilion in Oxford. “That’s being soft. That’s you not really trying to go in and make plays on the ball.”
The emphasis — how Barnes and his coaching staff want the Vols to play — is confrontation at the rim. There was little to no confrontation at Ole Miss, where the Rebels forced the issue in the second half.
They rallied from down eight points while dominating in rebounding (24-13 after halftime, including 11-2 on the offensive glass) and points in the paint (46 for Ole Miss to just 20 for Tennessee).
“And guys slide out of the way,” Barnes said, continuing to dismantle his team’s defensive effort. “There’s got to be a confrontation there. And we’ve been a pretty good rim-protecting team this year, but we weren’t tonight. And you can’t give up, I mean, I don’t know how many and-ones.”
There were six and-one opportunities for Ole Miss, with the Rebels getting three in each half.
Jaemyn Brakefield had three of his own, starting with a three-point play to get Ole Miss back within four with 10:24 left. He scored all of his 19 points not only in the second half, but in that final 10:24, with a three-point play to tie the game with 7:20 left and again with 5:11 left.
Zakai Zeigler hit a three to put Tennessee up 61-58 with 7:36 left and Jordan Gainey hit a three with 5:35 left for a 66-63 lead.
“And we foul on a three-point shooter again,” Barnes said, “give up a four-point play there. We foul 75 feet from the basket, things like that. That’s a recipe for losing. And that’s what we did.”
The four-point opportunity — Jaylen Murray made a 3-pointer, but missed the foul shot that followed — and the foul in the backcourt both belonged to Cade Phillips.
Phillips played only six minutes after picking up the two fouls, despite starting center Felix Okpara having two fouls of his own in the second half.
“We didn’t think he was locked in,” Barnes said of Phillips.
Not many Tennessee players were in the second half.
Ole Miss went 0-for-8 from the 3-point line after halftime, but made 19 of 31 shots from inside the arc. The Rebels had offensive rebounds on 11 of their 21 misses, including the one that led to Brakefield’s go-ahead points with 7.5 seconds left.
“I told our team I thought (Ole Miss) wanted the game more,” Barnes said, “which is always disappointing.”
GrantRamey
Everything Rick Barnes said after No. 4 Tennessee’s 78-76 loss at Ole Miss Wednesday night at The Pavilion at Ole Miss in Oxford:
What went wrong for Tennessee in the final two minutes
“Well, give Coach (Chris) Beard and his staff credit. I thought he had his guys much more ready to play than I did. And some of the plays we gave up, forget the last two minutes. It’s the things we did throughout the game, not sticking to our scouting report, transition defense, going at it half-speed, offensive rebounding on their half. They had 46 points in the second half and we just weren’t making plays. But again, I don’t want to take anything away from them. I told our team, I thought (Ole Miss) wanted the game more, which is always disappointing. And we didn’t have the focus that we had. We came out and they took a shot, missed it, had a chance to get the defensive rebound and go down and maybe win the game. We didn’t. Executed what we wanted to do there at the end, just didn’t come up with a shot at the end.”
How disappointing Tennessee’s rebounding and defensive effort was in the second half, how uncharacteristic it was
“Well, that’s it. We didn’t deserve to win this basketball game. When you make those kind of mental mistakes, you don’t deserve to play against the team that is well-coached and played as hard as they played. And they made shots on us. But again, you let a team get comfortable and you’re not as aggressive and you’re not playing smart. Offensive rebounding can just take the wind out of your sail. And they did a great job getting there and, I mean, think, 46 points in the paint. I don’t know what else I can say. Just disappointed. Most of the time in games like this, certainly from where I’m sitting right now, I think you get what you deserved. And we deserve to lose because we didn’t make enough plays to win the game. And I think you got to give them all the credit because even when we had a chance to maybe stretch it out a bit, (we had) some turnovers, just throwing the ball out of bounds, not getting the ball inbounds, all those type things. That’s being intense, that’s being focused, that’s doing your job. Because they played hard. (Chris Beard’s) teams play hard. But again, I just don’t want to take anything away from them. Because they did what they had to do to win the game and we didn’t.”
Ole Miss having so many chances at three-point plays in the game, Tennessee fouling but not stopping Ole Miss from making the shot
“It’s ridiculous. And we talk about having confrontation. We play like we were — that’s soft, honestly. That’s being soft. That’s you not really trying to go in and make plays on the ball. And guys slide out of the way. There’s got to be a confrontation there. And we’ve been a pretty good rim-protecting team this year, but we weren’t tonight. And you can’t give up, I mean, I don’t know how many and-ones. And we foul on a three-point shooter again, give up a four-point play there. We foul 75 feet from the basket, things like that. That’s a recipe for losing. And that’s what we did.”
Ole Miss forward Jaemyn Brakefield scoring all 19 of his points during the final 10:24
“I love him. I love the way he plays. I love his game. He’s patient and everything he did with his shot fakes, driving. I mean, think about it. We wanted him to shoot threes. So if you want a guy to shoot a three, why would you ever take a shot fake. And we kept leaving our feet and he doesn’t need much room. He’s a really good angle player, got great hands and again, he’s a terrific player. He had his way with us. I mean, anybody, we tried different guys on him, but whatever he wanted to do, (he did). You let a player like that start feeling good, that rim opens up for him, (gets) bigger, but he really fought hard to get space where he wanted it, which really good players do and that’s what he did.
How he would assess how Tennessee junior forward Felix Okpara played on defense
“I didn’t think Felix had one of his better games. He is a guy that normally really protects the rim in there for us, but they went at him. They did. Give them credit. They had their way with him.”
Tennessee sophomore forward Cade Phillips only playing six minutes in the last two games:
“We didn’t think he was locked in. He comes in, he fouls the three-point shooter, he fouls 75-feet from the basket. But again, we had some times where we mishandled the ball. too. I’m sitting here, my mind’s racing through all this. But yeah, we just didn’t feel like he was locked in.”
Tennessee struggling to get the basketball in the paint
“Well, we put it in there. I mean, we wanted to get it in there more, obviously. I mean, they’re a good defensive team. Believe me, it wasn’t our offense. I got no problem with our offense. I got no problem with our offense ’cause they’re a good defensive team. My problem is the way they got to 78 points and you know, they deserve to win. I’m telling you. The way we gave up 78 points, believe me, we deserve to lose this game.”
What he thinks about Ole Miss heading into the NCAA Tournament
“I think anybody in our (league that) gets in the tournament, (has) a chance. I mean, anybody in this league, because we saw early in the year, Oklahoma, go win the Bahamas. You saw what we did historically (in the) non-league, and you got a team like, think about Oklahoma, went through that field down there and won it. Georgia early in the year, beat St. John’s, who’s had a fabulous year. South Carolina beat Clemson early in the year. So I would say anybody in the tournament, I think this about anybody, you get in the tournament based on bracketing, based on matchups, they could do as much damage as anybody in our league. And I’d say that about any team of ours that gets into the tournament.”
What Rick Barnes said after No. 4 Tennessee’s 78-76 loss to Ole Miss Wednesday night at SBJ Pavilion in Oxford….
No. 4 Tennessee had multiple chances to put Ole Miss away, but the Vols couldn’t do it, losing on the road in Oxford Wednesday night….
Tennessee Basketball listed stretch forward Igor Milicic Jr. on Tuesday night’s SEC Injury Report for Wednesday’s game at Ole Miss….
What Tennessee assistant coach Gregg Polinksy said Tuesday about the win over Alabama and Wednesday’s game at Ole Miss….
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The Lady Vols suffered a damaging loss to the post-season on Sunday falling to Georgia 72-69 to close out the regular season….
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Rick Barnes wanted a timeout that was never granted before Jahmai Mashack’s buzzer-beater to beat Alabama on Saturday….
Jahmai Mashack made every play down the stretch for Tennessee highlighted by a buzzer beater three giving the Vols a 79-76 win over Alabama….
Jahmai Mashack hit a buzzer beater from just inside the half-court stripe to lift No. 5 Tennessee in a thriller against No. 6 Alabama….
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