Ole Miss coach Chris Beard has a simple, two-part message for his team entering the SEC tournament: “Be us, and smell the roses.”
Beard wants the No. 8 seed Rebels (21-10) to be “the best version of Ole Miss” when they play their tournament opener in the second round Thursday in Nashville, Tenn. Ole Miss meets No. 9 seed Arkansas (20-12), which defeated No. 16 seed South Carolina 72-68 in the tournament’s first game Wednesday afternoon.
“We’re reminding the guys that as postseason March begins, let’s not forget what got us here,” Beard said, adding that the Rebels “have earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.”
He cited Ole Miss’ resume that features four wins against current Top 25 teams — including No. 5 Alabama and No. 8 Tennessee.
“What you don’t want to do is have guys try to do things they haven’t tried all year or have the team try to play in a different way than we have all year,” Beard said. “I believe if we bring Ole Miss’ best game on offense and defense that we’ve seen throughout the season, then we’ll have a chance to be really competitive this month.”
The Rebels, who lost at then-No. 5 Florida 90-71 on Saturday, won at Arkansas 73-66 on Jan. 8.
The Razorbacks led South Carolina by as many as 20 points before seeing their lead shrink to one in the waning moments on Wednesday.
“We’ve done this a bunch, have a 16-, 18-point lead and ready to bury a team and then get a little tentative,” Arkansas coach John Calipari told the SEC Network. “Guys try to be perfect. You’re not going to be perfect. Just go make plays. But at this point, just win the game and move on to the next one.”
Trevon Brazile scored 16 points to lead the Razorbacks, who won for the fifth time in six games.
“We’ve become one heartbeat,” Calipari said. “But after this, every game is a Sweet 16, Elite 8 level game.”
–Field Level Media
