The Ole Miss Men’s Basketball team outlasted Trevecca Nazarene 83-76 in a nail-biting exhibition matchup. The Rebels needed a strong second half to uplift them to victory in the home opener in the SJB Pavilion on Friday night.
The Rebel offense started off strong with a 21-11 lead in the first 10 minutes of the first half, but Trevecca refused to give in as they forced the score to 38-34 with the Rebels in front. Trevecca went 13-28 from the 3-point line, allowing them to give the Rebels almost more than they could handle.
“It’s college basketball, there’s just good players everywhere,” head coach Kermit Davis said. “Give Trevecca a lot of credit. Am I concerned with what I saw tonight? I sure am, but I still like our team. I’ve gotten beat in an exhibition game before by 20 and then came back and should have been an NCAA Tournament team.”
The Rebels reclaimed the momentum and outscored Trevecca 38-49 in the second half. Ole Miss shot 80% from the free throw line and senior guard and captain Jarkel Joiner led the way with 26 points. Joiner was 8 for 9 from the free throw line and 8 for 13 shooting from the field.
“It’s his team.” Davis said. “He’s the first one there and he tries to lead.Very proud of Jarkell.”
Trevecca did their best to keep things interesting throughout the entire game. The Trojans shot 50% from the floor overall and 51% in the first half before cooling down in the second half to 48% from the field and 43.8% from the three-point line. In the second half, the Rebels made 23 trips to the free throw line, hitting 20 of those shots.
The Rebs shot 43% from the floor in the second half after a first half of shooting 33%, but the key was the trips to the free throw line and important contributions from Jarkel Joiner and Austin Crowley. Alongside Joiner’s 26 points, Crowley posted 16 points, went 3-6 from the three-point line and shot 87% from the free throw at 7-8.
“So they got it going tonight and there’s good players all across basketball (it) doesn’t matter where they end up, there’s good players everywhere,” Joiner said. “So they got it going tonight and kept their team in it…We let them get too comfortable. We have to bring it every night on our defensive side.”
The Rebels will host New Orleans at the SJB Pavilion, in the season opener on Tuesday Nov. 9. Tipoff will start at 6:30 p.m CST on SEC Network+.
