The holiday break may have been exactly what the Ole Miss men’s basketball team needed.
The last two months haven’t been the best or most fun for the Rebels losing four-straight games at one point and having their effort openly questioned. But Monday night, the first game in more than a week for Ole Miss, was a good night.
The Rebels dispatched Alcorn State with more ease than their female counterparts did on Sunday, winning 79-43.
“I appreciate everybody that came to the game tonight and invested their time and their money to come to the game,” Ole Miss coach Chris Beard said after the game. “We really appreciate it. 2025 was a tough year for this team. It was a pretty good year for last year’s team, but we’re owning it in zero-victim mode in our program.
“I thought tonight’s performance was better. Had a couple good days of practice after Christmas. I think the guys are united. I was just pleased with practice this week because I thought the approach was right.”
Beard has been searching for the right players to insert into the starting lineup and James Scott may be one of those players after Monday night.
Scott was one of two Rebels to post a double-double (Malik Dia being the other) with 13 points and 11 rebounds. He missed only two field goals in the contest and had a team-high five offensive rebounds. Also, he did all of that in less than 16 minutes of playing time.
“Really proud of James,” Beard said about Scott. “Double-double in the minutes he got tonight speaks for itself, and obviously we’ll need James to play like this the rest of the season to kind of have the run that we’re all wanting to have.”
“It just felt good,” Scott said about being on the court Monday night. “Like coach said, it’s good just to go out there and play with the stuff we’ve been going through and just have good days and really just going out there to play. Everybody was just playing for each other today.”
Scott has played in all 13 games and started 10. He’s one of four Rebels to start 10 or more games and is averaging 18.5 minutes per game. His stat line isn’t the most impressive (5 ppg, 5 rpg) but he’s shooting .690 from the field.
He’ll hope to continue having nights like he did Monday.
“I just got to just do what I did today and just run as hard as I can, play as hard as I can,” Scott said. “If I get tired, I just trust because I work hard. So, I just trust the guy coming off the bench. He’s just going to get me in. I just trust that if I get tired, I’m going to get some and it’s just going to keep going.”
Closed the calendar with a W✅#HottyToddy x #Culture pic.twitter.com/kaVXF6KLXI
— Ole Miss Men’s Basketball (@OleMissMBB) December 30, 2025
Top Performers
- James Scott: 13 points (6-8), 11 rebounds (5 off.), 1 steal, 1 block
- Malik Dia: 12 points (5-12), 11 rebounds (3 off.), 2 assists, 2 steals
- Kezza Giffa: 14 points (4-7), 4-5 3PT, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal
- Patton Pinkins: 13 points (5-7), 3-5 3PT, 2 rebounds
- Corey Chest: 6 points, 10 rebounds, (5 off.) 2 assists, 2 blocks
Next Up
Ole Miss (8-5) will hit the road to begin its slate of SEC games, starting with Oklahoma on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on SEC Network.
