What happened in Oxford on a wild Wednesday night was not a case of fourth-ranked Tennessee playing poorly. It wasn’t a case of Tennessee shooting erratically from the field, missing free throws or losing key players to injuries or foul trouble.
No, this was a case of – for at least one memorable night – Ole Miss just being better. This was a case of an Ole Miss senior, Jaemyn Brakefield, on Senior Night, playing his best half of basketball of his college career and lifting the unranked Rebels to a scintillating, 78-76 victory over the talented Vols, easily one of the nation’s best teams.
Tennessee shot the ball well. Indeed, it would be difficult to count the number of times a Vol would swish a long three-pointer just when it seemed as if Ole Miss had grabbed the momentum. Foul trouble? No Tennessee player was charged with more than three fouls. This Ole Miss team makes its living by stealing the basketball and forcing turnovers. But Tennessee committed only eight turnovers. Ole Miss even out-rebounded the Vols, an upset if there ever was one.
Bottom line: Ole Miss just beat Tennessee, just outplayed the Vols, handing them their sixth defeat against 24 victories. “Give coach (Chris) Beard and his staff credit,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said.”I thought he had his guys much more ready to play than I did.”
That surely looked to be the case.Â
So now, under second-year coach Chris Beard, the Rebels own two victories over Top 5 teams. On Jan. 15, the Rebels somehow won 74-64 at then No. 4 Alabama. The Rebels now stand at 21-9 overall and 10-7 in the Southeastern Conference heading into their last regular season game Saturday at No. 5 Florida, which will be coming off a 99-94 victory at Alabama.
Make no mistake, a 10-7 record in this year’s SEC just means more than usual. This is the best and deepest the league has ever been. This year, it’s the best league in the country. There are no free passes, no sure victories. You play well, you have a chance to win. You play poorly, you get embarrassed, which easily could have happened Wednesday night.
Tennessee looked ready to step on the accelerator nearly midway through the second half. Felix Okpara slammed in a dunk to give the Vols a 56-49 lead with 10 minutes, 39 seconds remaining. But that’s when the Jaemyn Brakefield Show began. The Jackson native scored all 19 of his points over the last 10:24, starting with a layup to cut the Tennessee lead to five.
In all, Brakefield scored 19 of the Rebels final 29 points. Over the course of his career, the Duke transfer has often settled for deep perimeter shots, instead of penetrating and getting to the basket for higher percentage shots. Not this night. All but one of his field goals came from inside the paint, including the game-winner, which came with just seven ticks remaining.
All season long, the Rebels’ bugaboo has been rebounding. In the SEC, the Rebels have been out-rebounded seven per game, which makes that 10-7 league record all the more implausible. So how did they slay Tennessee? With an offensive rebound when they needed it most, of course.
Ole Miss had the ball working for a last shot. Sean Pedulla launched a 3-pointer with about nine seconds to go, which hit the front of the rim and then the back of the rim and then hung in the air seemingly forever. Rebel senior Davon Barnes, who did not score in the game, kept the ball alive, batting it off the backboard. Brakefield then snared it and made the put-back. The Pavilion was bedlam. Tennessee managed one last shot, but Igor Milicik missed.
Brakefield was clearly the hero, but he had so much help. Dre Davis, still another senior, provided a double-double, 13 points, 10 rebounds and also three assists before fouling out. Malik Dia also provided 13 points while taking just seven shots. Fifth-year senior Matthew Murrell scored 12. Pedulla and Jaylen Murray both handled the ball well against Tennessee’s ball-hawking defense.
Said Ole Miss coach Chris Beard of Tennessee, “I think they might be the best team in college basketball. They were No. 1 for a long time. They have several all-conference players, a couple NBA players and a Hall of Fame coach…”
After it was all over and Ole Miss fans had converged, dancing and celebrating on the court, Beard stood on team’s bench, surveying the scene. Later, he said, “…Tonight something came over me and I said to myself let’s just enjoy this for a quick second. I wanted to smell the roses for a quick second. I couldn’t see the players, so I stood up where I could see them.”
He saw Brakefield in the middle of all the bedlam and sought him out for a most meaningful victory hug.Â
Who knows what happens from here? Ole Miss plays at No. 5 Florida Saturday. Next week, it’s the SEC Tournament at Nashville, then the NCAA Tournament. Really, who knows? But Ole Miss is 2-0 in March and the Rebels have already had a taste – no, a great big bite – of March Madness.
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