Ole Miss Men’s Basketball hosted Cal State Bakersfield for the last Tad Pad game on Friday, Nov. 14, then returned to The Sandy and John Black Pavilion for Austin Peay on Tuesday, Nov. 18. The Rebels won both games.
Bakersfield
Ole Miss continued its winning streak with a 82-60 win over Cal State Bakersfield at the C. M. Tad Smith Coliseum on Friday, Nov. 14. This was the last game played at the venue before its demolition in 2026.
The Rebels opened up with the same starting five as last game: guards Ilias Kamardine, AJ Storr and Kezza Giffa and forwards James Scott and Malik Dia.
Scott scored the Rebels’ first six points. The Rebels struggled to pull away — they were up only 18-13 with just under 10 minutes left in the half — and head coach Chris Beard subbed players in and out. Guards Eduardo Klafke, Patton Pinkins and Travis Perry, along with forwards Augusto Cassiá and Corey Chest, all clocked minutes.
The Rebels found rhythm and ended the first half up 38-23.
In the second half, Ole Miss grew out of its scoring strain. Storr had a dunk following a takeaway by Kamardine, and Scott continued his efficient game with a block.
Perry again hit a deep three, and free throws by Chest, Giffa and Pinka extended the lead to 66-44. AJ Storr finished a layup through traffic and added a mid-range jumper after a pair of free throw shots by Bakersfield. The Rebels won by 22.
Austin Peay
Ole Miss welcomed Austin Peay to the pavilion on Tuesday, Nov 18. The Rebels’ 72-65 victory marked their fifth-straight home win to begin the season.
The game got off to a slow start. Both teams each shot just 2-for-7 from the field through four-and-a-half minutes.
After a scoring drought, Corey Chest was fouled on a layup and completed a 3-point play. Perry threw Scott an alley-oop for a dunk.
The Rebels held a 24-15 advantage with just over six minutes to go in the first half. They went into halftime with a 31-23 lead. Dia led the team with nine points on 4-of-9 shooting to go along with five rebounds (four defensive).
Patton Pinkins had eight points off the bench after shooting 3-of-4 overall and 2-of-2 from beyond the arch. Storr only had two points on four attempts, but he showcased his defense prowess with a couple solid plays including a chase-down block.
In the first half, Ole Miss shot 34.2% from the field, 23.5% from three and 33.3% from the line. The visitors shot 25.7%, 20% and 50%.
The second half began with a 13-6 run for the Rebels to make the score 44-29. In the middle of the half, though, Austin Peay went on a 14-3 run over its own, cutting the Rebel lead to 51-46 with less than eight minutes to play.
Rebel shooting improved dramatically through the midway point of the half (58.3% FG, 50% from 3-point range and 66.7% on free throws), but the Governors had a higher volume of attempted shots (21 attempts compared to Ole Miss’ 12).
A dunk by Governor forward Rashaud Marshall got the Austin Peay bench players on their feet, and for the first time since the start, the Rebels were on their heels. A three from the Governors tied the game at 52 with six minutes to go.
The Rebels reestablished a seven point lead mostly from free throws. A deep three by Perry put Ole Miss up by 10 with less than four minutes left. The Rebels survived the final push from the Governors and won 72-65.
Dia led the Rebels with 18 points on 50% shooting from the field in 29 minutes. He also had seven rebounds and was plus-14 on the court. Kamardine continued his impressive start to the season with 15 points in 37 minutes.
The Rebels shot 41% from the field, 29.2% from three and 71.4% at the line.
In the postgame press conference, Beard brought out the five starters and was clearly frustrated with their performance.
“These are our five starters who beat Austin Peay by seven points,” Beard said.
Dia was the first player to speak up.
“Yeah, it’s embarrassing. We should never go out there and play that brand of basketball,” Dia said. “We don’t play with enough urgency (or) effort. Before the game we talked about how this team could come in and potentially beat us. We just played with a lack of effort and just didn’t get it done. And that’s all on us.”
Austin Peay attempted 33 3-pointers but made only nine. Had they been more accurate, they could have won the game. They also had 17 offensive rebounds.
“They had 17 offensive rebounds,” Storr said. “They (were) just getting to the paint…breaking us down a little.”
What’s next?
The Rebels will travel to Palm Springs, Calif., to face Iowa on Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 8:30 p.m. for the Acrisure Series. The game will be broadcasted on CBS.
