Ole Miss didn’t face the toughest opponent to start its season Monday night and did exactly what it was supposed to do.
Win. And win big.
The Rebels dominated Alcorn State in a 99-58 game inside SJB Pavilion. That’s what the score should have looked like and the box score is full of impressive numbers.
Below you’ll find five of the most impressive stats Ole Miss recorded in its season-opening win, but there’s a big grain of salt to take with this.
Alcorn State, with all due respect, isn’t at the same level as some of the Rebels’ upcoming opponents like Clemson, BYU/Washington, Virginia Tech, NC State or the entire SEC. So, the numbers below are great things to see. But they’ll look even better if they show up later in the season.
26
That’s how many turnovers Ole Miss forced. That’s an absurdly high number, even when factoring in the talent disparity between the two teams.
“We tried to cause a lot of turnovers tonight. We threw some punches on defense with some trapping and things like that,” Ole Miss coach Chris Beard said after Monday night’s game. “I think our full-court pressure kind of set the tone. It was definitely part of the game plan tonight.
“Defense is not just guarding them until they shoot and hoping they miss. It’s trying to get the ball before they shoot. So I thought our guys bought into the aggressive game plan tonight. We wanted to cause turnovers, and we did.”
Those turnovers unsurprisingly played a big role in the Rebels’ dominant win. They outscored Alcorn State 39-3 off turnovers. That’s a 36-point differential generated largely by defensive pressure and the ability to capitalize on mistakes.
That big gap almost always guarantees a win.
9
That’s how many minutes sophomore Christian Brown played Monday night and finished with a career high 12 points. rown made five of six shots and collected three offensive rebounds. He scored 10 of his points after halftime, including eight from field goals in the second half.
The Rebels weren’t short on shooters. Five players had 10 or more points scored, but Brown may have been the most surprising.
“(Brown) had a career high in points tonight,” Beard said. “He had a really good freshman year last year, so it’s nice to see him get off to a good start.”
Even the best players have off nights and Brown could easily find himself in position to step up when those nights do happen.
+32
That’s how many more points than Alcorn State the Rebels scored when Budd Clark and Santiago Trouet were on the court.
It’s not a perfect stat, but it does show how good Ole Miss was when this duo was on the court, although not necessarily at the same time. That may help make the stat look even better.
“We just played hard. Coach Beard preaches playing hard, no matter what’s on the scoreboard or who we’re going against,” Brown said. “We just compete on every possession, trying to win each possession or, like we say, win each four-minute segment.”
No matter, Ole Miss was playing very well. There was good floor spacing and defensive positioning, the Rebels made the hustle plays and set screens for one another. It’s not just that Trouet and Clark were putting up big numbers.
They did though.
Clark finished with a team-high 17 points, shooting 7-of-12. Trouet may have delivered the most complete performance of anyone on the floor. Fifteen points, seven rebounds and five assists with one turnover in 21 minutes is an impressive stat line.
And he did all that coming off the bench.
That’s a great sign of things to come for Ole Miss.
71.4%
That’s the percentage field goals made by Ole Miss that had an assist. That’s an encouraging sign for a team with so many newcomers.
Ole Miss didn’t rely on isolation basketball or one superstar player to generate offense. There was plenty of complimentary movements, cuts and passes.
The Rebels recorded 25 assists against just 11 turnovers, a 2.27 assist-to-turnover ratio. Again, doing that against Alcorn State is one thing. Doing it against teams like Florida and Arkansas is another.
44
That’s how many points Ole Miss’ bench scored in the win over Alcorn State. Six players come off the bench and combined for 44 of the Rebels’ 99 points
Trouet led the way with 15 points, followed Brown with 12. Jaron Saulsberry and Ben Henshall added five points apiece, while Yohance Connor scored four and Daniel Patton finished with three.
Having that kind of production off the bench is encouraging for a team still figuring out its rotation.
It means Ole Miss doesn’t have to rely entirely on its starters to carry the scoring load, and there are options when players get into foul trouble or have an off night. It also allows the Rebels to keep fresh players on the floor without sacrificing much offensively.
Granted, some of Monday’s production came with the game already well out of reach, but developing reliable scoring depth will become increasingly important when SEC play begins.
