Only 40 minutes separates the Ole Miss Rebels (23-11) from just their second NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearance in program history. It’s going to take their best effort this evening, as the No. 6-seeded Iowa State Cyclones (25-9) currently stand in the way.
Tipoff in Milwaukee this evening is set for 6:45 p.m. CT and can be seen on truTV or listened to on the Ole Miss Radio Network.
Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard, who spent his last two stops at Texas Tech and Texas, faces a familiar opponent as a former coach in the Big 12 Conference and a familiar face on the other sideline in Iowa State head coach T.J. Otzelberger, a longtime assistant coach for the Cyclones and now leader of the program.
“Nothing but respect for Iowa State. T.J. does a great job. Their team has an identity, doesn’t take long to figure it out. They’re physical. They’re connected. They’re hard-playing guys,” Beard said. “A physical, hard-playing team that doesn’t beat themselves. We’ll have to play our best 40 minutes of the season to try to get to next weekend.”
A couple hours before the Rebels (23-11) knocked off No. 11-seeded North Carolina 71-64 on Friday, The Cyclones disposed of No. 14-seeded Lipscomb 82-55.
Entering the NCAA Tournament, Iowa State finished fifth in the Big 12 with a record of 13-7 and finished No. 9 in the NCAA NET with a 10-7 record against Quad 1 opponents. They were ranked in the Top 10 of the major polls for all but two weeks.
They are top 5 in the Big 12 in a number of important statistical categories, such as points per game (80.4), points allowed per game (68.1), margin of victory (12.3), field goal percentage (48 percent), opponent field goal percentage (42 percent), three-point percentage (36 percent), free throw percentage (76 percent) and turnover margin (3.48). On the glass, they’ve been somewhat inconsistent, averaging 35 rebounds a game, 10 on the offensive glass.
“You know what you’re getting into. Won’t be a lot of surprises. Physical, hard-playing defense, trying to get you to turn it over,” Beard said. “On offense they’re going to put you in a lot of tough spots. They can do a lot of different things on offense. They don’t have just one primary ball handler or one shooter or one post up guy. They’ve got true position-less players. This is a great roster build that T.J. and his guys have done this season… They’re committed to keeping that ball in the middle and the sides. They’re committed to making it hard when you go to the basket whether you dribble it to the basket or throw it in there.”
Curtis Jones (G, 6-4) has only made nine starts in 33 games, but he’s averaging 17 points and four rebounds a game. Like Ole Miss, the Cyclones had five different players scoring double figures a game. The team has had to step up with second-leading scorer Keshon Gilbert, who’s nagging goin injury has kept him away from the floor since late February.
Their front court has some “umph” with the likes of Joshua Jefferson (F, 6-9), who’s the team’s leading rebounder with 7.4 per game in addition to being the team’s third leading scorer.
“(Jefferson) is one of those position-less players we always talk about, can score the ball, pass, assist, rebound Really good player,” Dia said. “He’s going to present a good challenge for us. We are just going to treat him as another player at the end of the day.”
Milan Momcilovic (6-8) has consistently been a versatile big who is not afraid to pull it from three if given the chance. He’s shooting 41 percent from three and 44 percent from the floor, averaging 3.3 boards a game. He led the Cyclones with 20 points in his team’s most recent win.
Ole Miss is playing in its 10th NCAA Tournament in program history, its first since the 2019 season. The Friday win against UNC is the program’s sixth ever win in the tournament.
This team is in the school record book for numerous team stats, setting all-time bests in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.60, 11th NCAA) and fewest turnovers per game (8.9, 3rd NCAA), while ranking third for most steals (8.8 per game) and fourth for made threes (272).
“(Beard’s) teams always exemplify tremendous toughness and togetherness, and I think that shows,” Otzelberger said of Ole Miss. “Defensively, they’re a very connected team. They communicate well. They play for one another on that side of the floor most definitely. I think offensively the way they move and share the basketball, some of the motion concepts, those are similar things that he did that made him successful as a coach at all the places he’s been, but specifically when we were competing against each other when he was at Texas. I think toughness and togetherness are things that really stand out to me about their team.
“Their defensive versatility is terrific, their switch ability. Guards on bigs, bigs on guards, they do a great job. Their defense really tries to frustrate you by not allowing the ball to get in the paint and trying to keep it on one side of the floor. And when they’re at their best, they’re doing that really well.”
Here’s more numbers and info ahead of tonight’s game…
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ON THE AIR
Television/Online: truTV
Play-by-Play: Kevin Harlan
Analysts: Dan Bonner & Stan Van Gundy
Reporter: Lauren Shehadi
OLE MISS RADIO (SiriusXM 210 or 203… 965 on app)
Radio: Ole Miss Radio Network
Play-by-Play: David Kellum
Analyst: Marc Dukes
TEAMS BREAKDOWN:
– 77.0 points for, 71.5 points against
– .442 field goal percentage
– 33.3 rebounds per game
– 14.1 assists per game
– 3.8 blocks per game
– 8.7 steals per game
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Iowa State:
– 80.4 points for, 67.7 points against
– .483 field goal percentage
– 35.4 rebounds per game
– 15.1 assists per game
– 3.5 blocks per game
– 9.4 steals per game
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PROJECTED STARTING 5:
(6) Ole Miss –
F – #0 Malik Dia (10.5 PPG. 5.7 RPG, 0.8 APG, 0.7 BPG)
G – #3 Sean Pedulla (15.0 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 3.6 APG, 1.8 SPG)
G – #5 Jaylen Murray (10.5 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 3.5 APG, 1.4 SPG)
G – #11 Matthew Murrell (10.5 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 1.9 APG, 1.8 SPG)
F – #14 Dre Davis (10.5 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 1.3 APG, 1.0 BPG)
Head Coach – Chris Beard (2nd season, 43-23)
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(3) Iowa State –
G – #0 Nate Heise (4.9 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 0.9 APG, 1.0 SPG)
C – #1 Dishon Jackson (8.5 PPG. 5.1 RPG, 0.6 APG, 1.0 SPG)
F – #2 Joshua Jefferson (12.9 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 3.2 APG, 0.7 SPG)
G – #3 Tamin Lipsey (10.8 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 3.2 APG, 0.9 BPG)
F – #22 Milan Momcilovic (11.7 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 0.9 APG, 0.4 SPG)
Head Coach – T.J. Otzelberger (4th season, 95-44)
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LAST 5 GAMES
Ole Miss: 3-2
3/5 vs. Tennessee – W 78-76
3/8 @ Florida – L 90-71
3/13 vs. Arkansas* – W 83-80
3/14 vs. Auburn* – L 62-57
3/21 vs. North Carolina^ – W 71-64
*- SEC Tournament
^- NCAA Tournament
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Iowa State: 3-2
3/4 vs. BYU – L 88-85 (2OT)
3/8 @ Kansas State – W 73-57
3/12 vs. Cincinnati* – W 76-56
3/13 vs. BYU – L 96-92
3/21 vs. Lipscomb^ – W 82-55
*- Big 12 Tournament
^- NCAA Tournament
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FINAL SEC MEN’S BASKETBALL STANDINGS (through regular season):
Auburn 15-3 SEC, 27-4 overall
Florida 14-4 SEC, 27-4 overall
Alabama 13-5 SEC, 24-7 overall
Tennessee 12-6 SEC, 25-6 overall
Texas A&M 11-7 SEC, 22-9 overall
Kentucky 10-8 SEC, 21-10 overall
Missouri 10-8 SEC, 21-10 overall
Ole Miss 10-8 SEC, 21-10 overall
Arkansas 8-10 SEC, 19-12 overall
Mississippi State 8-10 SEC, 20-11 overall
Georgia 8-10 SEC, 20-11 overall
Vanderbilt 8-10 SEC, 20-11 overall
Texas 6-12 SEC, 17-14 overall
Oklahoma 6-12 SEC, 19-12 overall
LSU 3-15 SEC, 14-17 overall
South Carolina 2-16 SEC, 12-19 overall
